A crankcase for a reciprocating piston engine, in particular of a motor vehicle, includes at least first one wall region that has a greater wall thickness than at least one second wall region of the crankcase that adjoins the first wall region. The crankcase is produced from an aluminum alloy and by at least mainly laminar die casting and is heat-treated completely or heat-treated completely and additionally locally or heat-treated only locally.

The invention relates to a crankcase for a reciprocating piston engine, in particular of a motor vehicle.
Crankcases for reciprocating piston engines have long been known from the general prior art and in particular from the field of series vehicle manufacturing. A reciprocating piston engine of this kind is designed for example as a reciprocating internal combustion engine or as an internal combustion engine, and is used in particular to drive a motor vehicle. In the finished manufactured state of the reciprocating piston engine, a drive shaft in the form of a crankshaft of the reciprocating piston engine is mounted on the crankcase so as to be rotatable, relative to the crankcase, about an axis of rotation. The reciprocating piston engine provides torques via the crankshaft, by means of which torques the motor vehicle can be driven, for example.
In this case, the crankcase comprises at least first one wall region that has a greater wall thickness than at least one second wall region of the crankcase that adjoins the first wall region. This design of the crankcase is based in particular on the finding that, during operation of the reciprocating piston engine, stresses of different magnitudes occur in the wall regions. In order to adapt the crankcase to these locally different stresses and at the same time to keep the weight of the crankcase low, the first wall region is designed having a greater wall thickness than the second wall region. In this case, during operation of the reciprocating piston engine, greater stresses occur in the first wall region than in the second wall region, the crankcase being able to withstand the locally different stresses at least substantially without damage and over a long service life, on account of the corresponding design of the wall regions. However, since the second wall region has a smaller wall thickness than the first wall region, the weight of the crankcase can be kept low.
In this connection, it is known from the general prior art to produce a crankcase of this kind by means of permanent mold casting or sand casting. However, permanent mold casting or sand casting methods of this kind are very expensive, and therefore the crankcase can be produced only at high cost. Moreover, what is known as pressure casting is known from the prior art, and is also referred to as squeeze casting. However, a pressure casting method of this kind is also expensive on account of the process. The object of the present invention is therefore that of developing a crankcase of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that the weight of the crankcase can be kept particularly low, while at the same time achieving particularly low-cost production of the crankcase and at the same time achieving optimized mechanical properties such as strength and/or elongation.
In order to develop a crankcase in such a way that the weight of the crankcase can be kept particularly low, while at the same time achieving particularly low-cost production of the crankcase and at the same time achieving optimized mechanical properties such as strength and/or elongation, in particular in thicker wall regions, according to the invention the crankcase is produced from an aluminum alloy and by means of at least mainly laminar die casting, and is heat-treated. The invention is based in particular on the finding that it is possible in principle to use permanent mold casting or sand casting in order to produce crankcases having stringent requirements with regard to strength and elongation or ductility, but a permanent mold casting or sand casting method of this kind is very expensive. Pressure casting methods can also be carried out only at high cost on account of the process. High strength characteristics and, simultaneously, good elongation characteristics cannot be provided in a satisfactory manner in thick-walled regions, i.e., in wall regions having a very high wall thickness of for example over 15 millimeters, using vacuum die casting methods. Although conventional die casting, during which, in contrast to laminar die casting, the mold is filled in a mainly disordered manner, can be carried out cost-effectively on account of the short cycle time, the crankcase has a relatively high degree of porosity, at least in regions, on account of the method. The porosity severely limits the capacity for heat-treatment, and therefore it is not possible to achieve high strength and elongation values. Strength and elongation values are generally determined in a tensile test, on specimens taken from the component volume.
The porosity in the component can be significantly reduced by using at least mainly laminar die casting. This results in a significantly greater capacity for heat-treatment compared with conventional disordered die casting. As a result, the limits of use of aluminum die casting crankcases can be further extended due to optimized strength and extension properties. In other words, using laminar die casting makes it possible to produce, and in particular to heat-treat, a heat-treated aluminum die casting crankcase having high strength values and/or high elongation values even in thick wall regions, i.e., in wall regions having a large thickness of more than 15 millimeters for example. Furthermore, the use of mainly laminar die casting means that the crankcase can be produced substantially more cost-effectively than when permanent mold casting or sand casting is used. The first wall region of the crankcase is in a bearing block region for example, in which region a drive shaft is rotatably mounted on the crankcase in the finished manufactured state of the internal combustion engine.
It has been found to be particularly when the first wall region is a bearing block region of the crankcase.
The crankcase according to the invention produced by means of mainly laminar die casting can consist, for example, of the following aluminum alloys or based on the following aluminum alloys: AlSi8Cu3, AlSi9Cu3, AlSi7Mg, AlSi10Mg, AlSi12Cu, AlSi17Cu4Mg. The aluminum alloys can each additionally be modified by one or more of the alloying elements iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, zirconium, zinc, titanium, molybdenum, sodium, strontium and phosphorus.
Solution annealing together with subsequent natural and/or artificial aging, and simply at least one process of artificial aging is provided as the at least one heat treatment. In this case, the artificial aging can be carried out immediately after the casting or temporally later, i.e., after natural aging has already been completed. In this case, the artificial aging can be carried out on the entire component and/or just on at least one volume element of the component.
In another embodiment, it is advantageous to carry out the solution annealing treatment not on the entire component but instead in a locally limited manner, on at least one volume element of the component. Following the local solution annealing, subsequent artificial aging can be carried out on the entire component and/or in a locally limited manner, on at least one volume element of the component.
A further embodiment is characterized in that, at least in tensile specimens taken from the center of the first, at least 15 millimeter-thick, naturally and/or artificially aged wall region, the crankcase has strength and elongation values, determined in a tensile test at room temperature, that are characterized by a q-value of on average at least 250, in particular of on average at least 280, and most particularly of on average at least 300. In this case, the q-value is found using the following formula:Q-value=Rm+150×lg(A5).
In this case, RM is the tensile strength, and lg(A5) is the decimal logarithm of the elongation A5.
A particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized in that, at least in tensile specimens taken from the center of the first, at least 15 millimeter-thick, solution-annealed and naturally and/or artificially aged wall region, the crankcase has strength and elongation values, determined in a tensile test at room temperature, that are characterized by a q-value of on average at least 300, in particular of on average at least 350, and most particularly of on average at least 400. In this case, the q-value is found using the following formula:Q-value=Rm+150×lg(A5).
In this case, RM is the tensile strength, and Ig(A5) is the decimal logarithm of the elongation A5.
A further embodiment is characterized in that, at least in tensile specimens taken from the center of the first, at least 15 millimeter-thick, solution-annealed and naturally and/or artificially aged wall region, the crankcase, produced from a primary aluminum alloy, has strength and elongation values, determined in a tensile test at room temperature, that are characterized by a q-value of on average at least 380 and in particular of on average at least 420. In this case, the q-value is found using the following formula:Q-value=Rm+150×lg(A5).
In this case, RM is the tensile strength, and lg(A5) is the decimal logarithm of the elongation A5.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the crankcase comprises at least one cooling jacket through which a coolant can flow and in the region of which the crankcase has a greater wall thickness than in the comparable region of a conventional diecast crankcase.
The coolant is for example a cooling fluid, in particular a gas or a cooling liquid. The cooling liquid is also referred to as cooling water or water, and therefore the cooling jacket is also referred to as a water cooling jacket. For example, during operation of the reciprocating piston engine that is designed as a reciprocating internal combustion engine, the coolant flows through the coolant jacket such that, for example, heat transfer from the crankcase to the coolant can occur. The crankcase is thus cooled. In particular, the coolant jacket surrounds at least one combustion chamber of the crankcase, which combustion chamber is formed as a cylinder for example, at least in part, in particular at least mainly, such that the crankcase can be cooled in particular in the region of the combustion chamber. The crankcase is thus formed as an engine block for example.
Finally, it has been found to be particularly advantageous for the crankcase to comprise reinforcing ribs, the respective wall thicknesses of which are preferably greater than 8 millimeters.
The crankcase according to the invention that is produced in or by at least mainly laminar die casting, may have the following features, and in particular advantages, compared with conventional crankcases that are produced by conventional die casting:
fewer ribs;
the ribs are shorter;
the ribs are substantially thicker;
the ribs have larger radii;
generally greater wall thicknesses or material thickenings, in particular in the region of the coolant jacket, and in this case in particular in the outer region thereof and/or in the region of a hearing block of the crankcase and/or in the region of an oil pan flange of the crankcase;
in the region of the cylinder, an outer contour of the crankcase extends in an at least substantially planar manner, such that there are no radii of curvature in the region;
the laminar die casting or a laminar die casting method is a production method in which for example a flow velocity of the initially fluid aluminum alloy, from which the crankcase is produced, is less than 1.5 meters per second.
These geometry features mentioned above may appear individually or in combination in the crankcase according to the invention.
The above-mentioned ribs are, for example, the previously mentioned reinforcing ribs, by means of which the crankcase is reinforced and thus stiffened, in particular at least locally. A drive shaft of the reciprocating piston engine, which drive shaft is formed as a crankshaft, can be rotatably mounted on the above-mentioned bearing block, such that the crankshaft can be rotatably mounted on the crankcase by means of the bearing block. An oil pan can be flange-mounted on the crankcase, i.e., fastened to the crankcase, by means of the above-mentioned oil pan flange. The oil pan is used in particular during operation of the reciprocating piston engine, in order to collect oil, by forming an oil sump, which oil is used to lubricate and/or cool the reciprocating piston engine. In this case, the oil pan is usually arranged below the bearing block, in the vertical direction of the reciprocating piston engine.
The laminar die casting, by means of which the crankcase according to the invention is produced, is also referred to as a laminar die casting method and is known under the term "Poral casting" for example. In this case, the laminar die casting method is a modified cold-chamber die casting method. The method is carried out on a conventional horizontal cold-chamber die casting machine for example, disorder-free mold filling being sought by means of slow, smooth guidance of the casting piston. Introducing the casting piston into the casting chamber in an at least substantially uniform manner prevents air from swirling the aluminum alloy which is a casting metal and from which the crankcase is produced. Filling the mold smoothly by means of a laminar flow of the casting metal, in the form of a melt, results in cast parts such as the crankcase which are characterized by a particularly lack of pores and can be thermally hardened, welded and dynamically highly loaded.
The main field of application for laminar die casting is usually the field of dynamically highly stressed chassis components. The significant mechanical properties that already exist in the state as cast, on account of the casting method, and that can be further increased by subsequent heat-treatment, are advantageous for the components. It is possible, using this method, to provide and manufacture, in a die casting method, thick-walled cast parts having wall thicknesses of up to 60 millimeters. It should be noted, however, that a minimum wall thickness of 3.8 millimeters is recommended for this method.
As a result of the restrictions with respect to the recommended minimum wall thicknesses, the laminar die casting method is usually not used in the region of the crankcase that is formed as an engine block for example. A plurality of thin-walled regions, in this case in particular the ribbing that is relevant for shape stability and acoustics, should be considered to be critical from the point of view of slow and laminar mold filling. It is generally not possible to simply substitute the casting method, without modifying components and the die. In this case, the main focus in the design is on ensuring laminar mold filling and the possibility of backfeeding during solidification. This results in widenings is the wall thickness in the main flow regions for the purpose of backfeeding, adapted wall thickness transitions in order to prevent turbulence and trapping of air during filling, and significantly more solid gating compared with conventional die casting. Whereas, in conventional die casting, what are known as knife gates are used, which gates are characterized by their small cross sections and are required for rapid mold filling and for accelerating the melt during the mold filling, in the case of laminar die casting the focus is on keeping the feed paths open while the component is solidifying. Keeping the paths open makes it possible to backfeed melt into the cavities of the component, which cavities appear upon solidification, due to the volume contraction of the aluminum, in order to ensure the backfeeding, solid gating is required, because otherwise freezing of the melt in this region would prevent backfeeding of the fluid metal.
Further advantages, features and details of the invention can be found in the following description of preferred embodiments and with reference to the drawings. The features and combinations of features stated above in the description as well as the features and combinations of features stated below in the description of the figures and/or shown in the figures alone can be used not only in the specified combination in each case, but also in other combinations or in isolation without departing from the scope of the invention.

Crankcase for a reciprocating piston engine, in particular of a motor vehicle


A spread-spectrum based cellular mobile radio system resolves average mutual interferences (I.sup.u (j).sub.av, I.sup.d (j).sub.av) between radio zones j, j') from a total interference experienced in a radio zone (j), using statistical methods. First, interference measurements are carried out in the radio zones (Z1, Z2), and data is transmitted to a central control arrangement (CA) which resolves the average mutual interferences. Then, these average mutual interference (I.sup.u (j).sub.av, I.sup.d (j).sub.av) are used in an optimization process for acquiring access control parameters (x) for controlling traffic per radio zone (Z1, Z2). In the optimizing process various objective functions may be applied so as to fulfil system operator demands. Thus, system overload is avoided, and further, a flexible tool is provided for satisfying operator demands.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spread-spectrum based cellular mobile radio system comprising at least two radio base stations covering radio zones, and a plurality of mobile radio stations. The applied spread-spectrum technique can be a so-called direct sequence spread spectrum technique or a so-called frequency hopping spread spectrum technique, or the like.
The present invention further relates to a control arrangement, a radio base station, and a mobile radio station for use in such a system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A spread-spectrum based cellular mobile radio system of the above kind is known from the International Patent Application WO 91/07037, which discloses a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) spread-spectrum cellular mobile telephony system. Disclosed is a CDMA system with an overall power control so as combat the so-called near-far problem and thus to maximize the system capacity in terms of the number of simultaneous telephone calls that may be handled in a given system bandwidth. In general terms, the disclosed system tries to achieve in real-time that under fading conditions, all signals received in a radio base station from mobile radio stations arrive at the radio base station with equal field strength. It is thus avoided that otherwise weak signals are not overshadowed by much stronger signals arriving at the radio base station. Such weak signals would then not or hardly not be detectable. In WO 91/07037, with an overall real-time power control, it is attempted to realize favourable interference conditions. A CDMA mobile radio system is also disclosed in a patent application filed by the present applicant, namely European application No. 94 200 479.7, filed Feb. 25, 1994, due to a more sophisticated demodulation, the latter system being less prone to the so-called near-far problem the patent application WO 91/07037 is aiming to combat. Although the known systems achieve an increase in system capacity as compared to other CDMA systems, these systems do not allow for a more sophisticated control such as a controlled access of mobile radio stations to radio zones under interference conditions.

Spread-spectrum based cellular mobile radio system, and a control arrangement, a radio based station, and a mobile radio station


A method of processing signals in a system for monitoring tires of a vehi during travel, the system providing for each tire at least one measurement which is characteristic of the condition of inflation of the tire, in which:. based on measurements carried out substantially at the same time, the measurement characteristic of one tire is compared with the same measurement of at least one other tire,. the result of this comparison is periodically recorded so as to obtain a series of values,. an alarm is given off when the variation in time of this series of values satisfies a predetermined relationship.

The present invention relates to systems for monitoring tires. More particularly, it concerns the processing of measurements carried out on tires in order to give one or more alarms.
Numerous arrangements, such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,650, have been proposed in order to transmit inflation pressure measurements of each tire continuously to a central unit, accompanied possibly by measurements of the temperature of the air within the tires.
However, a knowledge of the inflation pressures is not sufficient to provide the driver with reliable, useful information. The continuous consulting of these indications runs the risk of being more tedious than actually useful. As a matter of fact, the pressure and/or temperature measurements of tires vary enormously upon travel due to the heating of the tires as a result of hysteresis losses, the influence of the heat given off by the brakes, and transfers of load which cause slight variations in the volume of the tires.
For this reason, U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,110 has proposed a method of processing measurements based on comparisons between two or more tires, directed at the ability to give off an alarm in case of a leak of a tire without adopting alarm thresholds which are too far from the precision attained by the measurement devices.
This processing, despite its interest, has not completely solved the problem. In fact, the improvement in the precision of the detection in case of leak of a tire requires that the initial pressures of the tires be strictly identical. Actually, this is by no means the case and it is entirely customary and usual to observe differences in inflation pressure when cold on the order of 10% or even 15%. This is furthermore the range accepted, for instance, by the European Technical Rim and Tire Organization (ETRTO) for heavy vehicles. These differences are due in particular to the precision of about 5% of the inflation gauges, the lack of precision upon inflation of about 3%, the consequences of sunshine on one of the tires, etc. The method described in the aforementioned application can therefore not have a better precision of detection than the customary initial differences, if one does not desire to bring about numerous false alarms. Therefore, a leak in one of the tires can be detected only after a very substantial decrease in the inflation pressure of the tire and one which makes immediate repair necessary.

Method of processing signals in a system for monitoring the tires of a vehicle during travel

Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin-Michelin & Cie


A method of operating an internal combustion engine in a motor vehicle has the steps of determining angular positions of a crankshaft and a camshaft from signals of two detecting devices, monitoring a relative angular position of one of the shafts relative to the other of the shafts, and, depending on whether a change of the determined actual relative position is located outside the tolerance region, releasing an action, and also a computer program, a storage medium, a control and/or regulating unit, and an internal combustion engine with the use of inventive method are proposed.

The present invention relates to a method of operating an internal combustion engine, in particular in a motor vehicle.
More particularly, it relates to a method of operating an internal combustion engine, in accordance with which, from the signals of two detecting devices, angular positions of a crankshaft and a camshaft are determined, and in which a relative angular position of one shaft relative to another shaft is monitored.
The invention also relates to a computer program, to an electrical storage medium for a control and/regulating device of an internal combustion engine, to a control and/regulating device for an internal combustion engine, and to an internal combustion engine.
A method of the above mentioned general type is disclosed for example in the German patent document DE 100 32 332 A1. In this document it is described that for monitoring and diagnosis an association of the angular position of the camshaft of an internal combustion engine to a crankshaft must be tested, whether the signals of a detecting device for detecting the camshaft angle and a detecting device for detecting the crankshaft angle are plausible relative to one another.
Here and later a relative angular position is identified as the angular position of a reference mark on one shaft relative to a reference mark on another shaft. Since the camshaft and the crankshaft are conventionally coupled with one another through a transmission device, the angular positions of the both shafts relative to one another are equal at least in predetermined operational conditions of the internal combustion engine, if the internal combustion engine operates correctly. When a difference between an actual angular position of the camshaft with respect to a nominal angular position exceeds a predetermined threshold, then an action is released. Such a difference can be for example obtained when the detecting devices are positioned erroneously or when an error occurs during the signal processing.

Method of operating an internal combustion engine by determining angular positions of a crankshaft and camshaft


An assembly is configured for sensing its roll orientation, referenced to a roll indexing orientation that is defined by the assembly, so as to produce a roll output signal and for transmitting the roll output signal in a predetermined way. A housing is configured to support the assembly for fixedly co-rotating the assembly with the leading arrangement such that the roll indexing orientation is in a fixed angular offset with respect to any given roll position of the leading arrangement, which fixed angular offset is arbitrarily established between the housing and the leading arrangement. A roll compensation value is established that is a constant in view of the fixed angular offset. In one feature, the roll output signal is received with the steering configuration of the leading arrangement oriented in a particular way, for identifying a corresponding value of the fixed angular offset.

The present invention is related generally to the field of directional drilling and, more particularly, to electronic roll indexing compensation in a directional drilling system and method.
Drilling systems generally use a drill string which extends from a drill rig, positioned at the surface of the ground, to an inground boring tool or downhole arrangement which is connected to a foremost end of the drill string. The specific configuration of the downhole arrangement may vary substantially, depending on the specific type of drilling operation that is being performed. Generally, however, directional drilling utilizes some form of downhole assembly which allows for steering the drill head in a controlled manner. In one configuration, the downhole arrangement includes a drill head having an asymmetric face. So long as the drill string is rotated continuously, a straight borehole is formed, assuming uniform soil conditions. In order to steer the drill head, the asymmetric face is oriented in a desired position while the drill string is extended, thereby causing the asymmetric face to produce a lateral force which deviates the borehole. In another configuration, the drill arrangement utilizes a "bent sub" connected to the foremost end of the drill string, which may also be referred to as a "bend sub." The bent sub is generally attached on one side to the drill string and on the other side to a mud motor which rotates a drill bit which is powered using mud that is pumped down the drill string from the drill rig under considerable pressure. The bent sub provides a slight angular offset of the downhole arrangement with respect to the overall axis of the drill string for purposes of steering. That is, when the bent sub is oriented in a particular direction, using the drill string, for a period of time as the drill string is extended, the angular offset of the bent sub causes the borehole to be deviated in that particular direction. Formation of a straight borehole, using a bent sub, is provided using appropriate rotation of the drill string.
As is evident from the foregoing discussions, directional drilling requires an awareness of the orientation of the steering mechanism at the inground end of the drill string. In the past, various approaches have been used in order to provide this awareness. With respect to drilling arrangements which utilize an asymmetric drill head, it should be appreciated that a roll orientation signal can be transmitted from a transmitter that is located in the drill head itself, such that the transmitter co-rotates with the drill head. In such an arrangement, simple mechanical expedients may be used such as, for example, indexing tabs so as to index a zero roll position of the transmitter with the asymmetric face of the drill head. In other forms of drilling arrangements such as, for example, those using a bent sub, considerably more complex approaches have been necessary in the prior art to index the transmitter to the steering mechanism, as will be described immediately hereinafter.
It should be appreciated that a typical bent sub arrangement including a mud motor is generally incapable of carrying a transmitter within the mud motor itself. This result generally obtains since the mud motor is a relatively complex and long assembly having a central rotating drive shaft which rotates the drill bit. A mechanical indexing arrangement for a transmitter is therefore difficult to provide since the transmitter is generally located in the drill string behind the mud motor and the bent sub. Moreover, there will generally be a threaded connection between the drill string, that supports the transmitter, and the bent sub. This threaded connection produces an arbitrary roll orientation therebetween. Accordingly, mechanical indexing arrangements, in the presence of a bent sub or mechanically similar arrangement, tend to be quite complex in order to appropriately index the transmitter zero roll orientation to the steering direction of the bent sub.
The present invention provides an electronic roll indexing arrangement and method which resolves the foregoing difficulties and concerns while providing still further advantages.

Electronic roll indexing compensation in a drilling system and method


A computer-implemented method of transforming movement authority limits for a train traveling in a track network, which includes determining authority of tracks associated with a switch, based at least partially on authority data and/or train authority data for the train, and providing authority on a switch leg of the switch based at least partially on the authority of the associated tracks. The computer-implemented method also includes determining authority of tracks associated with switches on at least two tracks, based at least partially on authority data and/or train authority data for the train, and providing authority on a crossover track between the at least two tracks based at least partially on the authority of the associated tracks.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to vehicle management and control systems, such as, for example, train management and control systems in the railroad industry, and in particular to a movement authority transformation system and method for use in transforming movement authorities, enforcing movement authorities, and/or validating transformations of movement authorities associated with a track network and/or a vehicle, such as, for example, a train, operating within that network.
2. Description of the Related Art
At any given time within a complex track network, multiple trains may operate and traverse the tracks. These trains (and/or the crew) are normally in communication with a dispatch office, which issues movement authorities such as, for example, track warrants and other control authorities, to ensure the safe operation of trains operating in the track network. Each individual train may also include an on-board communication device and a management system that facilitates the safe operation of the train within its local territory in the network. Additionally, to ensure safety and reliability of movement authorities and other control authorities issued to the multiple trains, back office servers may also be used to monitor location reports received from multiple trains and transmit movement authorities and other control authorities to the multiple trains issued by the dispatch office.
In order to facilitate the safe operation of multiple trains traveling in the same or opposite directions on one or more tracks, authorities provided by the dispatch office may be divided into blocks by the back office servers and/or the on-board systems of one or more trains. During such divisions, it is imperative that the authority limits for tracks surrounding the switches or turnouts are correctly transformed into blocks. This is especially true for Positive Train Control (PTC) systems because the movement authorities issued or provided by the dispatch office may be the only means of preventing collisions between trains in dark territories. Consequently, the transformation of movement authorities must not introduce any conflicts of authority when no conflict exists and must not mask or hide any existing conflicts of authority when a conflict does exist. Accordingly, an improved system and method of transforming moment authority limits is provided herein.

System and method of transforming movement authority limits


A system and method for retrieving information from a frame. A plurality of entries is initialized in a translation table. The translation table has a plurality of rows. Each of the plurality of rows represents a state. The rows have a plurality of entries. Each of the entries corresponds to a character. An indication of a current state is maintained and a frame is received. The frame includes a plurality of characters. A selected character from the frame is chosen. A translation row is selected in the translation table corresponding to the indication of the current state. An entry is located in the selected translation row in the translation table. The entry corresponds to the selected character. The character is translated. The translated character is stored in an output buffer.

High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) is a group of protocols for transmitting information between nodes in a network. In HDLC, data is organized into frames and sent across a network to a destination that verifies its successful arrival. The HDLC protocol used by the network or node may also manage the flow or pacing at which the information is sent. HDLC is one of the most commonly-used protocols in what is layer 2 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.
In the OSI model, Layer 1 is the detailed physical level that involves actually generating and receiving the electronic signals. Layer 3 is the higher level that has knowledge about the network, including access to router tables that indicate where to forward or send data. On sending, programming in layer 3 creates a frame that usually contains source and destination network addresses. HDLC (layer 2) encapsulates the layer 3 frame, adding data link control information to a new, larger frame. Other layers also exist in the OSI model.
The Point-to-Point protocol (PPP) provides a standard method for transporting multi-protocol datagrams across point-to-point links, for example, across the Internet. PPP may be comprised of a method for encapsulating multi-protocol datagrams; a link control protocol (LCP) for establishing, configuring, and testing a data-link connection; and a family of Network Control Protocols (NCPs) for establishing and configuring different network layer protocols. The PPP packets may use HDLC-like framing. For instance, PPP may use an HDLC link layer. PPP may also use the HDLC Frame Check Sequence for error detection.
Each piece of data may be encapsulated in an HDLC frame by adding a header and a trailer to the frame. The header may include an HDLC address and an HDLC control field. The trailer may be found at the end of the frame. The trailer may include a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), which detects any errors that occur during the transmission of the frame. Other fields may also be included in the frame.
A device, for example, a receiver, using the HDLC protocol may operate in any number of modes. Normally, the receiver may be in an idle state and wait for the start of a frame. The receiver may enter hunting mode wherein the receiver tries to determine the beginning of a frame. For instance, the beginning of a frame may be indicated by a special flag. The receiver may operate in other modes, as well.

System and method for dynamic information retrieval using a state machine


Methods and apparatus for detecting L-bit sync words occurring at N-bit intervals in PPM-encoded servo pattern read signals read in magnetic tape drives. A soft output detector processes the PPM-encoded servo pattern read signal to produce a series of soft output samples corresponding to respective bits encoded in the servo pattern. A sync word detector then produces block correlation values for respective positions of a sliding L-sample block in the series of soft output samples by (i) calculating at each block position bit correlation values indicating correlation between respective samples and corresponding bits of the sync word and (ii) summing each bit correlation value minus a predetermined function of the corresponding sample value. The sync word detector then detects a sync word at the block position with the maximum block correlation value in an (N+L−1)-sample sequence of the series of soft output samples.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to word synchronization for servo read signals in tape storage systems. More particularly, methods and apparatus are provided for detecting sync words in pulse-position-modulation (PPM) encoded servo pattern read signals read from magnetic tape in tape drives.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, synchronous digital communication receivers include various types of synchronization subsystems such symbol synchronization and word synchronization (also known as frame synchronization) subsystems. Assuming symbol synchronization has already been achieved, the task of word synchronization consists of determining the position of the sync word within the received data stream.
Various techniques for word synchronization are described in "Frame synchronization techniques," R. A. Scholtz, IEEE Trans. on Communications, vol. 28, August 1980, pp. 1204-1213. In early work on word synchronization, the concept of the correlation decision rule was introduced (see R. H. Barker, "Group synchronization of binary digital systems," in Communication Theory, W. Jackson, Ed. London. Butterworth, 1953, pp. 273-287). According to this rule, bits in the received data stream are correlated with respective sync word bits and a sync word detected at the position of maximum correlation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,906 employs a correlation technique for soft output samples in a mobile satellite communications receiver wherein samples are correlated with the sync word bits to produce a cross-correlation value which is compared with a threshold dependent on mean power for sync word detection.
An optimum word synchronization algorithm specifically for antipodal binary signals that are received in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise was proposed in "Optimum frame synchronization," J. L. Massey, IEEE Trans. on Commun., vol. 20, April 1972, pp. 115-119, (see also the Scholtz reference above). Specifically, the correlation decision rule for the optimum word synchronization algorithm for antipodal binary signals turns out to be the correlation decision rule modified by an additive correction term that depends on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). High-SNR and low-SNR approximations of the optimum word synchronization algorithm were also presented. Simulation results have demonstrated that the high-SNR approximation of the optimum word synchronization algorithm for antipodal binary signals performs almost as well as the optimum word synchronization algorithm (see "Some optimum and suboptimum frame synchronizers for binary data in Gaussian noise," P. T. Nielsen, IEEE Trans. on Communications, vol. 21, June 1973, pp. 770-772).
In "Frame Synchronization for Gaussian channels," G. L. Lui and H. H. Tan, IEEE Trans. on Communications, vol. 35, August 1987, pp. 818-829, the optimum word synchronization algorithm for antipodal binary signals in vector space was extended to both coherent and non-coherent phase demodulation on Gaussian channels assuming a maximum-likelihood one-shot receiver structure (see "Principles of Communication Engineering", J. M. Wozencraft and I. M. Jacobs, John Wiley & Sons, 1965).
In tape storage systems, timing-based servo (TBS) technology is employed for recording servo information in dedicated servo tracks extending longitudinally of the tape adjacent the data tracks. The LTO (Linear Tape Open) consortium adopted the TBS approach and standardized a robust, scalable, dedicated servo pattern for LTO tape drives which provides backward compatibility and remains unchanged in the follow-on LTO standards with higher track density. The TBS servo pattern is detailed in Standard ECMA-319, "Data interchange on 12.7 mm 384-track magnetic tape cartridges—Ultrium-1 format," June 2001, pp. 48 to 56.
The servo pattern consists of magnetic transitions defining a series of stripes with two different azimuthal slopes. The transverse position of the head can be derived from the relative timing of pulses generated by a narrow servo head reading the stripe pattern. TBS patterns also allow the encoding of additional longitudinal position (LPOS) information without affecting generation of the transverse position error signal (PES). The LPOS information is encoded by shifting transitions (stripes) in the servo pattern from their nominal pattern position in the longitudinal direction of the tape. LPOS information is recorded in 36-bit words over 36 frames of the servo pattern, each LPOS word indicating a specific, absolute longitudinal position on the tape. Each servo frame thus encodes one bit of LPOS information, the bit value being indicated by the particular shift in the servo pattern stripes.
The first 8 bits of a 36-bit LPOS word constitute a known synchronization word. Since the LPOS bits are recorded by shifting the longitudinal position of servo frame stripes, the resulting servo head read signal is a PPM-encoded signal in which the sync words must be identified for recovery of the position data.
Conventional synchronization systems in LTO drives apply the correlation decision rule to hard output bits derived from the PPM-encoded servo pattern read signal. Hard output bits are detected by a matched filter following interpolation of servo read signal samples as detailed in our U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,450 and "Synchronous Servo Channel Design for Tape Drive Systems," Cherubini et al., Proc. 17th Annual ASME Information Storage and Processing Systems Conf. ISPS 2007, Santa Clara University, CA, Jun. 18-19, 2007, pp. 160-162.
A sync word detector employed in conventional LTO tape drives is illustrated in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. The stream of hard output bits {circumflex over (b)}k, of value +1 or −1, is clocked through a series of seven delay elements D whose inputs/outputs supply a sliding block of eight bits {circumflex over (b)}k, {circumflex over (b)}k−1, . . . , {circumflex over (b)}k−7 to respective multipliers.
The known sync word bits p0, p1, . . . , p7 (where p0=1 and pi=−1 for i=1, . . . , 7) are supplied to the other inputs of the multipliers as shown. The resulting bit correlation values are summed to produce a block correlation value Ck at each position of the sliding 8-bit block in the output bit-stream. The block correlation values are supplied to a detector which outputs a word sync indicator when Ck=8, indicating a match between the current block and the expected sync word.
The robustness of the word synchronization operation in the presence of disturbances and noise is important for reliable operation of tape drives. Errors in reading back LPOS information and in the synchronization of LPOS words can generate false position information during normal drive servo operation. An improved word sync system for tape drives would therefore be desirable.

Word synchronization for servo read signals in tape drives

International Business Machines Corporation


A thermal fuel delivery system includes an insertion assembly and a fuel device. The insertion assembly includes a housing defining a cavity for housing the fuel device. The housing is disposed above and coupled to a pair of frame members via a plurality of connecting members. The frame members extend laterally away from the housing. The insertion assembly further includes an intake manifold coupled to the housing via a tube. A plurality of runner tubes extend laterally away from the intake manifold and pass through the frame members at an inner portion of the frame members and terminate at an outer portion of the frame members.

Current internal combustion engines often take the form of a V engine in which the cylinders and pistons are aligned in two separate planes such that they are arranged in a "V" configuration when viewed from an end of the engine block. The "V" configuration was originally developed to reduce the size and weight of inline engine configurations and are now commonplace in today's automobiles and other motorized vehicles. V-engines are thus adapted for use with conventional fuel systems, such as direct injection and multi-point fuel injection systems.
Fuel systems for internal combustion engines are constantly evolving as concerns of environmental impact increase. One such recently developed fuel system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,510,171 and provides for an apparatus for delivering thermally cracked fuel into the inlet manifold and thereafter to the cylinders of an internal combustion engine. The apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 7,510,171 may interact with various types of heat exchangers to impart heat to the fuel delivered to the fuel system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,881,711 describes a fuel system having a heat exchanger for using heated exhaust air to heat fresh cool air prior to such fresh cool air being delivered to a fuel system.
V-engines with traditional fuel injection systems require a large amount of space to accommodate a large number of stock parts, such as injectors for each cylinder, fuel rails, etc.
Accordingly, new thermal fuel delivery systems and methods are needed to accommodate new technologies, reduce stock parts needed for integration of an engine to a vehicle and for adapting to the V-shape of internal combustion engines.

Thermal fuel delivery system with insertion assembly


Disclosed is a method and apparatus for compensating for a performance degradation of an application session in a plurality of application sessions associated with a network link. The performance of each application session in the plurality of application sessions associated with the network link is determined. The performance of each application session in the plurality is then compared. From this comparison, a lowest performance application session in the plurality of application sessions is identified. Corrective action is performed on packets scheduled to be transmitted over the lowest performance application session.

The present invention generally relates to networks and more specifically to compensating for performance degradation of an application session.
Routers in a network forward packets from one network component to another network component. A network component is a computer (e.g., a router or switch) that communicates over the network. Each router is typically connected to several network components via router links. If a particular router link to a network component is overwhelmed for any reason, the traffic has to be rerouted to the network component (e.g., another router) via another link. A link may be overwhelmed because of a legitimate traffic increase or because of an attack aimed at disrupting communication.
Existing solutions to an overwhelmed router link is to use traffic engineering (i.e., mechanisms or strategies used to ease router link traffic) and quality of service (QoS) mechanisms (i.e., a guaranteed throughput level for the link) on each link. These solutions, however, are operationally expensive because they add significant overhead to router operation.
There is no way to "selectively" reroute traffic belonging to particular links. In particular, routing is typically performed by the destination address of a packet. Packets having the same destination address conventionally follow the same paths (i.e., links). Therefore, there is no easy way to route traffic having the same destination address using different links. There remains a need to selectively and efficiently reroute traffic traveling over network links.

Method and apparatus for compensating for performance degradation of an application session


The present invention provides methods and apparatus for embedding an identifying pattern of visible speckles into the digitized image of each page of a document. A speckle is a cluster of black or white pixels. Speckles are printed as black speckles on the white paper, or conversely, as areas of missing black removed from the black text characters, called white speckles. The collective pattern of all embedded black and white speckles on a single document page is called a specklemark. A specklemark can survive contrast manipulations on photocopiers and binary rasterization done by fax scanning prior to data transmission. The random pattern of the black and white speckles visible in the digitized image of a document page can be detected automatically, and by systematically matching the detected pattern with those known to have been embedded into marked copies of a document page, a specific document copy can be identified. Methods for composing, embedding and detecting specklemarks are the subject of this patent.

It is a constant endeavor to find improved techniques for placing identifying marks into high-value documents, such as scripts for proposed motion pictures or television programs, drafts of unpublished books, etc., that are targets for theft or malicious appropriation. The protection that can be offered by these techniques is necessarily limited. For example, if the thief has obtained a copy and chooses to retype the stolen document, there is little or no protection that can be offered.
However, retyping of a lengthy document is an expensive and time consuming action. If the thief is less diligent and attempts to photocopy, fax or otherwise electronically reproduce the stolen document, a good degree of protection can be offered by embedding into each page of a document uniquely identifiable and cryptographically unpredictable markings.
The markings may be made unique to each copy of an original document, or additionally, to each page of each copy. If a stolen copy of a document is retrieved, the unique pattern can be detected by scanning the retrieved page or pages, spatially aligning them with the unmarked original page or pages, and systematically matching the detected pattern of speckles with one of those known to have been embedded into marked copies of the original document.

Marking images of text with speckle patterns for theft deterrence


A sod-laying machine having a low center of gravity and a seated operator position adjacent the roll of sod being placed. The superior visibility available to the operator makes it possible to place the sod more accurately and with less need for subsequent adjustment than has been possible previously. The machine has sod roll lifting arms that can be spaced apart to lift and place rolls having any of the common large sod roll widths. The machine can be configured to lay sod that is rolled with either the grass side or the dirt side outermost. Propulsion, roll lifting and roll width adjustment is hydraulic with continuously variable speed drive. Turf scuffing is minimized by trailing caster wheels and independently controllable drive wheels mounted close to the location of the sod roll.

Sod has traditionally been considered a luxury or an expensive necessity when its installation was required. With increasing concern about soil erosion, the uncertainty and difficulty of establishing seeded areas, and sod prices that have lagged the prices of most other items in the U.S. economy, however, individuals and organizations are becoming more receptive to the idea of installing sod. Recently, harvesters have become available that make large rolls of sod rather than the traditional 18 in. wide and 72 in. long roll. The availability of large rolls of sod has reduced the costs to harvest, load, transport, and install sod by reducing labor to that required using traditional nine square foot rolls. A large sod roll 30 in. wide and 180 ft. long has 50 square yards and a 42 in. wide roll 260 feet long contains 100 sq. yards.
Such rolls may be desirable and have advantages such as lower cost to harvest, but they are too massive for individual persons to manage without the assistance of mechanical devices. Machinery for cutting large rolls of sod has developed more quickly than has the machinery for installing those rolls, although several workers have introduced models for the purpose of laying large rolls of sod.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,452 to Link titled "Sod Roll Laying Apparatus and Method" issued Dec. 26, 1997 and shows a machine that holds the sod roll in front but requires the operator to stand at the rear. The Link machine wheels are configured to travel over the soil as the machine is moved in reverse while the sod unrolls. Although the lift arms can break down stacked sod rolls, the operator cannot view the sod being laid. In addition, the sod roll cannot be conveniently positioned closer to obstacles than the length of the machine. The operator must dismount to inspect the roll or cut sod from it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,880 to Woerner for a "Sod Roll-Out Machine with Endless Tracks" issued May 3, 1994. The device is a walk-behind vehicle that is likely to cause scuffing when turns are made over turf or surfaces that have been prepared to received sod.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,278 to Hess issued Jun. 1, 1993 for his "Apparatus for Laying Turf." The Hess machine is a tractor-pulled device that supports a large sod roll over a multiplicity of transversely coaxially mounted powered wheels. An endless rotating track is interposed between the top of the wheels and the bottom of the sod roll. The track supports the sod roll and causes the roll to rotate so as to dispense sod from a trailing chute. A separate machine must be used to load the roll onto the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,815 issued to Brouwer et al. Jul. 5, 1988 for their "Sod Laying Machine." The Brouwer machine is an articulated-steering machine that holds the sod roll in front of the advancing machine so that the machine wheels pack the turf as it unrolls. The narrow wheel spacing and elevated sod roll position necessitates outrigger wheels for stability.
What is needed is a sod laying machine that has a relatively low center of gravity.
A further need is for a sod laying machine that allows an operator to sit close to the sod roll so that it is easy to see the placement of the roll relative to previously placed sod.
Another need is for a sod laying machine that can carry the sod roll generally between the drive wheels.
A still further need is for a sod laying machine that has continuously variable speed drive with higher speeds for transport and lower speeds for sod placement.
Yet another need is for a sod laying machine that is quickly and easily hydraulically adjustable so that sod rolls of varying widths may be placed without the necessity of obtaining different machines or engaging in time-consuming change-over procedures.
Also needed is a sod laying machine that does not traverse freshly placed sod before any desired manual placement, adjustment, or relocation tasks can be completed.


In a method for generating data defining the machining depth along a tool path, grid points are generated according to split points indicating a form of a model, and rough machining data for contour milling is generated according to the grid points, so that rough machining data which presents overcutting can be prepared. Contour points are generated and drilling points are set according to a comparison with cut planes so that the drilling points can be set easily and automatically. The contour points are retrieved successively so as to easily generate a tool path for contour milling.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a method for generating offset surface data. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for generating offset surface data particularly applicable in designing and manufacturing of contoured products utilizing data representing a free surface generated through computer aided design (CAD) and/or computer aided manufacturing (CAM) for example.

Method for establishing data defining tool path for rough machining


A finger/toe tip protective apparatus including a semispherically shaped flexible member of perforated material with inner and outer surfaces, and a circumferential edge. The flexible member has at least one elongated tab extending tangentially and radially about the circumferential edge of the member and which. when wrapped about the digit is partially secured to both the circumferential edge of the member and the skin of the digit to which the apparatus is to be secured whereby allowing the protective apparatus to be releasably secured in position on the finger/toe tip of a person.

Adhesive bandages are commonly found in most households for consumer use to cover a wound. As used herein and throughout, the term "wound" means and refers to a cut, abrasion, laceration, bruise, blister, hangnail, paper cut, burn, or skin puncture caused by a diagnostic procedure involving a needle or pin stick of a digit, or to infectious conditions (i.e., contamination of cellulose tissue of a nail on a digit) or similarly related injury to the skin as the wound heals. The bandage protects the wound against dirt and other contaminants that can cause further infection. Moreover, it has been recognized that covering and protecting the wound area from further injury promotes rapid healing of the wound.
The most common adhesive bandages on the marketplace are generally rectangular in shape. Such bandages typically have a centralized padded region that contacts with the wound and an adhesive area on either side of the padded area for securing the bandage to the skin of the wounded person.
These known flat bandages appear to work well on relative flat body parts but are not well suited for use on rounded or multiple curved body parts such as the tips of fingers and toes, which flex and move. As is well known, when a flat bandage is applied over or around a tip of a finger or toe, excess material associated with the bandage tends to wrinkle and crimp, creating openings and gaps in protection and tends to fall off. Moreover, the excess material that inevitably results when a flat bandage is fitted about multiple curved body parts, such as the tips of fingers and toes, tends to protrude away from the skin, thus leaving an avenue of exposure for the introduction of germs and/or related contaminants. With parts of the bandage protruding away from the skin, the bandage's seal around and about the wound is compromised and the wound remains exposed. Additionally, and unless located relative to the wound with proper care, adhesive areas on the flat bandage can interfere with healing and thereby exacerbate the existing wound being covered. Furthermore, those parts of the bandage protruding away from the skin hinder use of the bandaged finger for operations requiring dexterity, such as typing, computer inputting, and related tasks involving common use of a person's fingers. As will be appreciated, and partly because of tight fitting shoes, pain, discomfort or blistering often result when parts of the bandage protrude away from the skin on a person's toe.
For these and other reasons, there is a continuing need and desire for an apparatus for covering and protecting a wound to a tip of a person's finger/toe.


A timber working device, comprising a frame, having a feed axis, a drive system, configured to feed at least one stem along the feed axis, at least a pair of upper knives or lower knives movably attached to the frame, wherein the knives are configured to be controllable each by an actuator to open and close around a stem, a tilt mechanism comprising a controllable tilt bracket pivotably attached to the frame, to control a tilt position of the frame in relation to the tilt bracket.

Mobile work machines, in particular, forestry equipment and forestry machines, e.g. harvesters and forwarders, have an articulated boom and a tree stem processing tool at the tip of the boom. The tool can be e.g. a harvester head, a felling head, a harvesting and processing head, or a log grapple equipped with a sawing apparatus. The tool can be used e.g. to cut standing trees, to process felled trees or to grab objects, such as logs or tree stems. When using such a tool with power-driven operations, it is operated under the control of an operator of the work machine.
The mobile work machines comprise an articulated crane with the tool attached to a boom tip of the crane. Such tools handle heavy load, that may comprise a load of soil or logs or raw material. Usually such cranes are controlled by hydraulic actuators that are driven by hydraulic pressure from one or more pumps. The pumps are usually powered by the primary power source of the vehicle.
The stem processing tool or harvester tool comprises several movable knives that are used to grab the log/tree with the harvester tool. These knives are hydraulically actuated and controlled by the controller mounted on the harvester tool. Once the tree is grabbed with the harvester tool, a saw blade, usually at a bottom side of the harvester tool, is activated to cut the tree/stem. After the cutting process the tree will fall over, only being fixated in the harvester tool by the knives closed around the stem. Usually, within the harvester tool, feeding wheels are activated to pull/push the stem through the harvester tool and the knives, so that bark/branches are removed, and the log/stem is cut up into log pieces of determined size.
When the log/tree is cut and rests on the ground or is held by the harvester head it represents a resistance to the feeding wheels and causes additional torque and shear forces on the knives of the harvester head. The forces act on the knives in an opening direction, so that the hydraulic control of the knives needs to be adjusted to ensure a correct grip and position on the log to remove bark or branches. At the same time, due to a higher gripping force of the knives, the feeding wheel hydraulic motors also require a higher torque due to the higher gripping force of the knives.
DE102016208839A1 discloses a felling head with a tilt sensor which controls a high or low power of a hydraulic pump in order to switch between a high and low power hydraulic mode.

Timber working device and method for controlling a timber working device and a working vehicle


A radio bearer processing method and a network device are provided. The method includes: establishing, when a first event is detected, a radio bearer (RB) with a mobile terminal, or refusing to establish the RB. The first event comprises at least one of: the secondary network device being added by a master network device accessed by the mobile terminal, configuration of the secondary network device being changed, or the mobile terminal being switched from another secondary network device to the secondary network device.

At present, in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a Master Node (MN) will establish a Signal Radio Bearer (SRB), such as SRB0, SRB1, SRB2, and other related SRBs. SRB is mainly used to transmit a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message and a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message, such as a message of transmitting connection setup and releasing of a User Equipment (UE), configuration, and reporting UE measurements, etc.
In a 5-generation New Radio (5G NR) system, similar to the LTE system, Dual Connectivity (DC) functions are introduced. In a LTE DC scenario, only MN will establish an SRB, and in a 5G DC scenario, a Secondary Node (SN) micro base station/small cell can also establish an SRB, such as SRB3. SRB3 is mainly used to transmit some RRC messages Related to SN, such as SN cell measurement and reporting, including reporting to SN and/or MN though SN. Therefore, it is necessary to propose a method of establishing/releasing SRB through SN.

Radio barrier processing method and network device


A centrifugal separation process which is made continuous and automatic by determining the position for taking out the liquid container (8) accurately within a short time, with a liquid container (8) containing liquid for separation being kept by a basket (7) which is suspended and freely rotatable on the tip of a rotary arm (6), by positioning a circumferential direction of the rotary arm (6) by means of a rotary arm direction detector and a rotary arm positioning device and by stopping a basket (7) horizontally at a predetermined position by a basket positioning device (14).

The present invention relates to a centrifugal separator for centrifugal separation and sedimentation of liquid and to an automatic centrifugal separator for automatic separating work.
Explanation follows of a conventional centrifugal separator with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8.
FIG. 7 illustrate a side-view cross section of the conventional centrifugal separator, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of a major part thereof. In FIG. 7, the conventional centrifugal separator has a main body which is partitioned into upper and lower chambers as a processing chamber 1b and a driving chamber 1c respectively by a floor 1a provided on the middle stage, comprising; a cover 2 for sealing the aforementioned processing chamber 1b having a locking device 2a and being pivoted for free opening and closing through a hinge at an upper opening of the processing chamber 1b, a spindle shaft 4 supported rotatively by use of a plurality of ball bearings on a housing 3 fixed on nearly the middle of the aforementioned floor 1a, an electric motor 5 fixed on the main body which drives the aforementioned spindle 4 through a belt transmission device and the like at the lower end, four pieces of baskets suspended by lug shafts 7a respectively made freely rotatable at the end of a cross rotary arm 6 which is fixed on the upper part of the aforementioned spindle shaft 4 as shown in FIG. 8, and a jig 9 which accommodates cylindrical liquid containers 8 attached to the respective baskets 7.
Explanation follows of a method for use of the centrifugal separator thus structured.
First of all, after mounting on respective jigs 9 liquid containers 8 filled with liquid for carrying out centrifugal separation or centrifugal sedimentation by first unlocking a locking device 2a and then opening a cover 2, locking is made with the cover 2 closed. Then, upon operating an electric motor 5 with a button operation made, a rotary arm 6 fixed on a spindle shaft 4 rotates, and a basket 7 supported at the lug shaft 7a is rotated outward by a centrifugal force and is rotated by keeping the liquid container 8 in a horizontal position. After operating it for a certain period of time, operation is stopped with a button operation. After a complete stop, the liquid containers 8 are taken out by opening the cover 2 after releasing the locking device 2a.
It is common that the separation process is carried out after arranging a plurality of centrifugal separators. However, in the structure thus mentioned above, the stop position of the rotary arm 6 is not constant and a direction of jig 9 being suspended can not be ascertained, and furthermore, there was a problem that automation was difficult due to complexity of an opening and closing operation of the cover 2. Furthermore, a separation process in which a plurality of centrifugal separators are arranged had variations in time for changing the liquid container 8 for each centrifugal serrating process, which made it difficult to keep the time of centrifugal separation process constant.

Centrifugal separator and automatic centrifugal separator system


A data acquisition service on a network node is disclosed for forwarding received process data to a process history database over a potentially slow and/or intermittent network connection. A store and forward functionality within the networked node receives incoming process data via a first network interface and forwards outgoing process data via a second network interface. The disclosed store and forward functionality includes an immediate transmission cache and a store and forward storage. The store control enters, in response to detecting an entry condition, an activated mode wherein incoming process data is directed to the store and forward storage. A read control forwards outgoing process data to the second network interface from the immediate transmission cache and store and forward storage. The read control includes at least a first configurable parameter that constrains a rate at which data retrieved from the store and forward storage is forwarded via the second network interface.

Industry increasingly depends upon highly automated data acquisition and control systems to ensure that industrial processes are run efficiently and reliably while lowering their overall production costs. Data acquisition begins when a number of sensors measure aspects of an industrial process and periodically report their measurements back to a data collection and control system. Such measurements come in a wide variety of forms. By way of example the measurements produced by a sensor/recorder include: a temperature, a pressure, a pH, a mass/volume flow of material, a tallied inventory of packages waiting in a shipping line, or a photograph of a room in a factory. Often sophisticated process management and control software examines the incoming data associated with an industrial process, produces status reports, and, in many cases, responds by sending commands to actuators/controllers that adjust the operation of at least a portion of the industrial process. The data produced by the sensors also allow an operator to perform a number of supervisory tasks including: tailor the process (e.g., specify new set points) in response to varying external conditions (including costs of raw materials), detect an inefficient/non-optimal operating condition and/or impending equipment failure, and take remedial action such as move equipment into and out of service as required. A simple and familiar example of a data acquisition and control system is a thermostat-controlled home heating/air conditioning system. A thermometer measures a current temperature, the measurement is compared with a desired temperature range, and, if necessary, commands are sent to a furnace or cooling unit to achieve a desired temperature.
Typical industrial processes are substantially more complex than the above-described simple thermostat example. In fact, it is not unheard of to have thousands of sensors and control elements (e.g., valve actuators) monitoring/controlling all aspects of a multi-stage process within an industrial plant. These sensors are of varied type and report on varied characteristics of the process. Their outputs are similarly varied in the meaning of their measurements, in the amount of data sent for each measurement, and in the frequency of their measurements. As regards the latter, for accuracy and to enable quick response, some of these sensors/control elements take one or more measurements every second. When multiplied by thousands of sensors/control elements, this results in so much data flowing into the control system that sophisticated data management techniques are required. One currently popular technique is "data streaming." Here, incoming data are stored, in order of arrival time, in one or more data files. Storing data in time-sequential order allows the control system to quickly access a set of data relevant to the state of a process at a particular time and to make an analysis of this snapshot accordingly.
It is generally desirable to provide as much streaming data as possible to linked (i.e., downstream) data recipients. Once streaming data has been filtered or dropped by an intermediate node, such as an I/O or data acquisition server, it is lost for any subsequent, intended downstream recipients of the data. It is further noted that such data streams are present within a variety of different process control management networks having differing throughput capabilities, connectivity, and reliability. In some networks, the links through which the streaming data passes are fast and always operational. However, in other networks one or more links are relatively slow and/or experience intermittent loss of connections. As a result, providing large quantities of streaming process data to an intended data sink can pose a challenge in the case of certain process management and control network topologies where one or more links in a data stream's path comprise slow and/or intermittent connections. Such challenges can arise in any of a variety of situations including, by way of example: an intermittent connection that has temporarily been suspended, a network interface (e.g., a dialup modem) having a low bandwidth, and multiple application-level processes simultaneously passing data to a single shared network hardware interface for transmission over a network.
For network topologies containing slow/intermittent connections or links, in cases where bursts of data temporarily exceed throughput (including zero throughput for a temporarily down intermittent connection/link), known data acquisition services enter a "store and forward" mode when a data transmission cache reaches a particular level of fullness (measured, for example, by quantity and/or transmission delay). Upon initiation of the store and forward mode, the entire contents of the data transmission cache are moved to the store and forward buffer. Subsequently received data is temporarily re-routed to the store and forward buffer rather than being immediately passed to the data transmission cache for transmission over a network via the slow/intermittent connection.
In such known systems, when the system senses that the network connection is available for forwarding data, data from both the store and forward buffer and the data transmission cache are transmitted over the network connection. In a known system separate threads for the two distinct data sources compete with one another for the potentially limited bandwidth of the network connection—thereby presenting the possibility that the store and forward transmission load will saturate the network connection, re-fill the data transmission cache, and cause the system to reenter the store and forward mode. This known arrangement achieves the desirable effect of preventing loss/dropping of data (assuming the store and forward FIFO buffer is not overrun) when the rate of receiving data for forwarding via a network interface exceeds the current available bandwidth of the network interface resulting in a backup of data to be transmitted via the network interface of a machine. However, entry into the store and forward mode of operation is generally considered an exceptional/undesirable event, and therefore should be avoided.

System and method for managing industrial process control data streams over network links


A drive mechanism for a circuit breaker or power switch made up of at least one switching unit and comprising a biasing mechanism which can act upon the switching unit, with actuating mechanism for biasing the biasing mechanism, drive mechanism for driving the switching unit under the influence of the energy stored in the biasing mechanism, and mechanism for resetting the switching unit from the driven state. A coupling mechanism in the form of a movement-direction-dependent carrier mechanism is provided whereby the biasing mechanism is brought in its biased state into engagement with the drive mechanism for driving the switching unit and in the driven state of the switching unit the engagement of the biasing mechanism and the drive mechanism is released for resetting the switching unit without operation of the actuating mechanism, and the biasing mechanism and the drive mechanism act upon each other only in the direction of movement opposite to the biasing direction. To improve the "hammer" effect during separation of the contacts of the switching unit, the drive mechanism is made mechanically more rigid near the action point with the switching unit through a selective mass increase.

The invention relates to a drive mechanism for an electric switch made up of at least one switching unit, in particular a circuit breaker or power switch, comprising a tensioning mechanism in the form of a transition point or overturn mechanism which can act upon the at least one switching unit, actuating means for tensioning the tensioning mechanism, drive means for driving the at least one switching unit under the influence of the energy stored in the tensioning mechanism, means for resetting the at least one switching unit from the driven state, and a coupling mechanism for bringing the tensioning mechanism in its tensioned state into engagement with the drive means, for driving the at least one switching unit, and for releasing the engagement of the tensioning mechanism and the drive means when the at least one switching unit is in the driven state.
A drive mechanism with a tensioning mechanism in the form of a transition point or overturn mechanism is known from Dutch Patent Application 8803018, in which the tensioning mechanism for driving the switching unit moves past its transition point or dead centre, thus in the same direction as that in which the tensioning mechanism is tensioned. When the switching unit is being driven or switched on, the drive means remain in engagement with the tensioning mechanism. For switching off the switching unit, this engagement first has to be released by means of the actuating means.
Although the switching unit can be switched on and off at a specific speed and in a reproducible manner with this known device, it is not possible when, for example, switched to a short-circuit current, to switch off the switching unit directly, i.e. without operating the actuating means.
A switch having a drive mechanism with a tensioning mechanism in the form of a transition point or overturn mechanism is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,520, which switch is also provided with a coupling mechanism. Said coupling mechanism ensures that the drive means for driving the switching unit are brought into engagement with the tensioning mechanism when it is tensioned, and that when the switching unit is being driven the engagement of the tensioning mechanism and the drive means is released.
During driving of the switching unit the tensioning mechanism, as in the case of the abovementioned Dutch Patent Application, moves past its transition point, thus in the same direction as that in which the tensioning mechanism is tensioned. For switching on the switch again after it has been switched off, such a tensioning mechanism must first be moved through the actuating means into a rest position suitable for switching on the switch. For switching on the switch, the maximum storage energy, i.e. the energy required for moving the tensioning mechanism past its transition point or dead centre, must always be supplied to the tensioning mechanism by the actuating means.
French Patent 808,888 also discloses a drive mechanism for an electric switch, provided with a tensioning mechanism in the form of a transition point or overturn mechanism, in which the drive means do not remain in engagement with the tensioning mechanism when the switching unit is being driven or is switched on. Here too, for switching on the switch again, the tensioning mechanism must be reset in a stable rest position by means of the actuating means, while the operation of the drive mechanism is again based on the tensioning mechanism moving past the transition point or dead centre.

Drive mechanism for an electric switch, in particular a circuit breaker or power switch


A method, system and computer-readable medium for establishing secure connections using compressed cryptographic chaining certificates, the method including receiving a first compact representation corresponding to a certificate for validating a first entity at a second entity, retrieving a local list of one or more compact representations corresponding to one or more certificates locally available to the second entity, comparing the first compact representation to the one or more compact representations within the local list, determining if the first compact representation matches at least one of the one or more compact representations, retrieving the certificate corresponding to the at least one of the one or more compact representations if the first compact representation matches the at least one of the one or more compact representations and validating the first entity using the retrieved certificate corresponding to the at least one of the one or more compact representations.

Reduced latency is critical to all network commerce. Reducing latency may be achieved by various techniques, including for example, reducing the distance of transmission, or the amount of data being transmitted. In the case of secure connections, where a public key certificate is transferred, for example from a server to a client, to establish a secure connection, latency may occur due to the number of transmissions to establish the secure connection as well as the size of certificates and certificate chains exchanged to authenticate the secure connection. To reduce latency, it may be desirable to reduce the number of back and forth communications needed before proceeding with a transmission session, as well reducing the size of data exchanged, including the size of certificates and certificate chains exchanged to establish the secure connection.

Compression of cryptographic chaining certificates


Methods and associated apparatus in a RAID storage subsystem to enhance the performance of write operations for sequences of large buffers generally non-aligned with stripe boundaries in the RAID storage subsystem. In particular, the methods identify a starting non-aligned portion of each large buffer to be written to the RAID storage subsystem, an ending non-aligned portion of each large buffer to be written to the RAID subsystem, and a larger middle portion of the large buffer to be written to the RAID subsystem which is aligned with stripe boundaries of the RAID storage subsystem. The stripe-aligned middle portion is written to the RAID storage devices in a cache write through mode using stripe write operations to maximize data throughput. The starting and ending portions identified by the methods of the present invention are written to the cache memory in a write back mode such that they will eventually be posted to the RAID storage devices in due course through normal RAID processing. Special case processing of the methods of the present invention note the absence of a starting or ending non-aligned portions (e.g., a buffer having no non-aligned starting portion, or no non-aligned ending portion, or neither starting nor ending non-aligned portions).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to control methods operable within a disk array subsystem (RAID) and in particular to methods operable within a disk array subsystem to simplify host computer RAID management and control software integration.
2. Background of the Invention
Modern mass storage subsystems continue to provide increasing storage capacities to fulfill user demands from host computer system applications. Due to this critical reliance on large capacity mass storage, demands for enhanced reliability are also high. Various storage device configurations and geometries are commonly applied to meet the demands for higher storage capacity while maintaining or enhancing reliability of the mass storage subsystems.
A popular solution to these mass storage demands for increased capacity and reliability is the use of multiple smaller storage modules configured in geometries that permit redundancy of stored data to assure data integrity in case of various failures. In many such redundant subsystems, recovery from many common failures is automated within the storage subsystem itself due to the use of data redundancy, error codes, and so-called "hot spares" (extra storage modules which may be activated to replace a failed, previously active storage module). These subsystems are typically referred to as redundant arrays of inexpensive (or independent) disks (or more commonly by the acronym RAID). The 1987 publication by David A. Patterson, et al., from University of California at Berkeley entitled A Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID), reviews the fundamental concepts of RAID technology.
There are five "levels" of standard geometries defined in the Patterson publication. The simplest array, a RAID level 1 system, comprises one or more disks for storing data and an equal number of additional "mirror" disks for storing copies of the information written to the data disks. The remaining RAID levels, identified as RAID level 2,3,4 and 5 systems, segment the data into portions for storage across several data disks. One of more additional disks are utilized to store error check or parity information. A single unit of storage is spread across the several disk drives and is commonly referred to as a "stripe." The stripe consists of the related data written in each of the disk drive containing data plus the parity (error recovery) information written to the parity disk drive.
RAID storage subsystems typically utilize a control module that shields the user or host system from the details of managing the redundant array. The controller makes the subsystem appear to the host computer as a single, highly reliable, high capacity disk drive. In fact, the RAID controller may distribute the host computer system supplied data across a plurality of the small independent drives with redundancy and error checking information so as to improve subsystem reliability. Frequently RAID subsystems provide large cache memory structures to further improve the performance of the RAID subsystem. The cache memory is associated with the control module such that the storage blocks on the disk array are mapped to blocks in the cache. This mapping is also transparent to the host system. The host system simply requests blocks of data to be read or written and the RAID controller manipulates the disk array and cache memory as required.
In RAID level 5 subsystems (as well as other RAID levels) there is a penalty in performance paid when less than an entire stripe is written to the storage array. If a portion of a stripe is written to the RAID subsystem, portions of the same stripe may need to be read so that a new parity block may be computed and re-written to the parity disk of the array. In particular, the old data stored in the portion of the stripe which is to be overwritten as well as the old parity block associated therewith needs to be read from the storage subsystem so that the new parity block values may be determined therefrom. This process is often referred to as a read-modify-write cycle due to the need to read old data from the stripe, modify the intended data blocks and associated parity data, and write the new data blocks and new parity block back to the storage array. This performance penalty is avoided if the entire stripe is written. When an entire stripe is written (often referred to as a stripe write or full stripe write), the old data and old parity stored in the stripe to be overwritten are ignored. The new stripe data is written and a new parity block determined therefrom is written without need to reference the old data or old parity. A stripe write therefore avoids the performance penalty of read-modify-write cycles.
A significant class of RAID applications may be designated as high bandwidth applications. Video data capture is exemplary of such high bandwidth RAID storage applications. In video data capture applications, each video image (frame) comprises a significant volume of data. In addition, sequences of such video frames may be captured in rapid succession to simulate real-time video in the playback of the captured video frames. The captured video frames are stored in a RAID storage subsystem for later retrieval and replay.
In such high bandwidth RAID applications, data is typically read and written in very large blocks as compared to the typical unit of storage in the RAID subsystem. For example, a single high resolution (640.times.480 pixels), mono-color, video frame (two video scan fields), comprises over 300,000 bytes of uncompressed storage. For real-time video, a capture rate of 30 frames per second is desirable. A typical full color video capture stream therefore consists of sequential 1.3941 megabyte I/O write requests directed to the RAID storage subsystem.
When data written to a RAID storage subsystem is aligned with stripe boundaries of the RAID subsystem, higher performance may be maintained in the subsystem by using stripe write operations. However, maintaining such high performance is problematic when the data to be written to the storage subsystem is not aligned to stripe boundaries in the RAID subsystem. This typical request size does not readily align to typical stripe boundaries in a RAID storage subsystem. Typical stripe sizes in RAID subsystems are 32, 64, 128, or 256 kilobytes. In such cases, read-modify-write cycles are used by present RAID subsystems thereby reducing the performance of the RAID subsystem below the level required for sustaining high bandwidth applications such as real time video capture.
One solution to this problem as known in the art is to provide large buffer memories so that the non-aligned data may be cached until additional data is received from an attached computer. The cached data may then be written along with the additional received data in an efficient stripe write operation. A problem with this simplistic solution is that potentially large buffer memories may be required to store the non-aligned data until an additional I/O write request for an adjacent buffer is received. The buffer memory required to store two or more such large I/O write requests can be prohibitively costly in a RAID storage subsystem.
It is evident from the above discussion that an improved method and apparatus is required for sustaining RAID performance for high bandwidth storage applications having large I/O write request sizes.

Method and apparatus for efficient management of non-aligned I/O write request in high bandwidth raid applications


An apparatus and method is provided to start gas turbine engines at cold start. A gearbox is not mechanically coupled to any accessory or to the starter-generator. Rather, a controller is used to route power to a starter-generator to rotate the turbine mainshaft to start the gas turbine engine. The controller prevents power to an accessory drive motor, until the starter-generator creates a positive torque. When a positive torque is reached, excess power is routed to the accessory drive motor, typically a brushless direct current motor.

The present invention relates generally to a start up mechanization for gas turbine engines. Particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for the cold starting of a gas turbine engine using a controller and direct current motor, rather than a gearbox.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,790 discloses a means to prohibit flow of lubricating oil to the engine by a valve that is energized to dump the lubricating oil driven by the pump driven by the engine, column 1, lines 58-64. The '790 patent employs a gearbox, referred to as a reduction gear arrangement or transmission 18, in the single Figure of the '790 patent. This patent requires the use of a gearbox.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,529 discloses a clutch that disengages accessories to avoid delivery of excess fuel and oil into the engine during start-up. However, the disclosed clutch mechanism is limited for use with gearboxes, as described in column 3, lines 5-8 of the '529 patent. The gearbox is illustrated in FIG. 3 of the '529 patent. This patent also requires the use of a gearbox.
Aerospace grade gas turbine engine start power is limited by the size of the energy source, e.g., battery, because energy has to be directed to start the turbine engine, and also to an accessory such as a lubricant pump drive motor to pump lubricant or oil. The battery size can be reduced if less power is required, or, if the distribution of power can be used more efficiently. Therefore, start up mechanization is critical in creating a design, which results in minimum stored energy source, e.g. battery size.
Conventionally, accessories for gas turbine engines can be divided into two categories; those driven by bleed air taken from the compressor section of the engine, and those driven mechanically by an accessory drive shaft and gearbox connected directly to the turbine shaft. The mechanical connection from the turbine shaft may be through an engine-mounted gearbox or through a power takeoff shaft to a remotely mounted gearbox.
Accessories driven by bleed air operate by utilizing high-pressure air that is available for driving aircraft accessories by air motors or air turbines. Compressor discharge air at high pressure and temperature is bled from the engine through ports. This air is ducted as a source of power. It operates accessories such as the air-conditioning units, hydraulic pumps, thrust reverser actuators, and various mechanical actuators in the airplane. Air for cockpit or cabin pressurization is also provided by bleed air from the engine compressor.
On multi-engined aircraft equipped with pneumatic engine starters, one engine is usually started from an auxiliary power unit or a ground air source. Air from this operating engine is bled through a system of ducts in the aircraft to power the starters of the other engines.
Use of an accessory drive gearbox (AGB) is a second method of driving accessories. This apparatus is a direct mechanical drive that is operated by gearing from the compressor-turbine drive shaft. Accessory drives and accessory mounting pads are provided in an engine-mounted, accessory drive gearbox or in a remotely mounted gearbox. On some turbojet engines, accessory pads and mechanically powered drives are also provided in the engine nose section. For dual compressor, axial-flow engines, the main accessory drive gearbox usually receives its power from the high-pressure compressor drive shaft. Mechanically driven accessories may include tachometers, generators or alternators, hydraulic pumps, fuel pumps, oil pumps (also known as lubricant pump drive motors), fuel controls, starters, and water pumps. In the case of AGB-driven accessories, a starter-generator is mechanically coupled to the compressor-turbine drive shaft to rotate the compressor-turbine drive shaft. The compressor-turbine drive shaft, or compressor shaft, is drivably coupled to accessories, such as a fuel pump and a lubricant pump drive motor (LPDM).
A conventional gearbox requires energy from the battery source to drive components, which include gears, shafts, and clutches. Typically, a bevel gear is located at the front end of the compressor shaft; the bevel gear meshes with a planetary gear train, which may be housed in an inlet housing. This planetary gear train transmits low-pressure compressor power through two drive shafts: one to the starter gearbox, the other to the accessory gearbox to drive an idler system. A gear located on an output power shaft interconnects with a 90° pinion gear in the output power shaft support housing. The gears drive the high-pressure section of an accessory gear train.
The gear arrangement of the gearbox that causes energy draw typically includes the bevel gear, being the accessory gearbox drive gear, which is splined internally to accept the accessory gearbox shaft. This drive shaft connects the gear carrier to the accessory gearbox through the 900 pinion gear, which in turn is splined directly to a starter-generator drive gear. The starter-generator drive gear provides drive to all subordinate gears located within the accessory gearbox housing.
The energy required to start the engine, or rotate the compressor, must be in excess of that required to overcome rotor inertia and engine friction and air loads. The starter must produce sufficient torque to start the engine properly. Engines must be rotated and accelerated above a certain minimum rotational and acceleration rates if consistently good starts are to be achieved. The torque characteristics of an acceptable starter must be well above the required minimum.
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a start control scheme according to the prior art. A battery 10 provides power to a full authority digital electronic controller (FADEC) 12, which is operably connected to a starter controller and/or pump controller 14. FIG. 1 shows the starter/pump controller 14 as one integrated controller. However, in some prior art systems, the starter controller may be physically separated from the pump controller. The starter/pump controller 14 is operably connected to a starter generator 16 and a lubricant pump drive motor 18.
As can be gathered from the foregoing background, the accessory gearbox with its many components is heavy and large. Further, the gearbox requires energy to drive the gears, components, and accessories.
Therefore, there is a need for a cold start mechanization that reduces weight, occupies less space, requires less energy, and minimizes stored energy source size.

Gas turbine engine cold start mechanization