A novel network architecture that integrates the functions of an internet protocol (IP) router into a network processing unit (NPU) that resides in a host computer's chipset such that the host computer's resources are perceived as separate network appliances. In one embodiment, file handling functions are now integrated into a storage processing unit (SPU) that can also be deployed on the same chipset, where the SPU serves as an overall file and disk management processor.

FIG. 1 illustrates traditional internal content sources and data pipes where the data routing function is performed by a host central processing unit (CPU) and its operating system (OS) 110. Namely, the host computer may comprise a number of storage devices 120, a plurality of media engines 130, and a plurality of other devices that are accessible via input/output ports 140, e.g., universal serial bus (USB) and the like. In turn, the host computer may access a network 150 via application programming interfaces (APIs) and a media access controller (MAC).
However, a significant drawback of this data routing architecture is that the host computer's resources or devices are only accessible with the involvement of the host CPU/OS. Typically, accessing the host resources from external computers is either prohibited or it is necessary to request access through the host computer using high-level protocols. If the host CPU/OS is overtaxed, a substantial latency will exist where data flow may be stuck in the OS stacks.
For example, in the field of file handling, various file processing functions such as encryption and compression are performed by a file system layer of the OS. However, this approach requires the involvement of the host OS.
Therefore, a need exists for a novel network architecture that allows a host computer's resources to be perceived as separate network appliances and are accessible without the interference of the host computer's CPU/OS.

Method and apparatus for providing an integrated file system


A pneumatically operated autobalance arrangement includes a hub which connects a shaft with a driven rotational element. The hub is fitted with a plurality of circumferentially-acting bellows which move weights about the hub. The inflation state of each bellows is determined by an air gap, which varies in dimension depending upon the amount and location of an imbalance of the driven element. The pneumatic pressure can be generated by a turbine driven by the shaft. Force amplification is provided in another embodiment. Autobalance hubs can be stacked axially to provide two-plane dynamic balance.

The use of high speed rotating machinery is of such fundamental importance in modern industry that the operating speed and efficiency of many processes are defined by the capabilities of rotating equipment. In many cases maximum operating speed is limited by the onset of serious vibrations caused by imbalance of the rotor or rotating portion of the machine, and bearing wear can be a serious maintenance issue. If the machine is operating at a rotational speed well below the first flexural critical speed of the rotor shaft, the shaft can be considered to be stiff, in which case the imbalance can be described as a displacement and/or misalignment of the principal axis of inertia of the rotating mass relative to the axis of rotation. This imbalance is the result of unequal mass distribution about the axis of rotation. Balancing in the case of a rigid shaft can be accomplished by the so called "two-plane" or dynamic balancing procedure. At higher rotation speeds, shaft deformation becomes a factor, and the shaft must be considered as being flexible. The balancing procedure in the flexible-shaft situation is termed flexible-rotor balancing or "modal balancing". Balancing of either rigid and flexible rotors is accomplished by the placement of compensating balance masses along or about the rotor. The size and placement of these balance masses is usually determined by testing the rotor using a balancing machine, as described in chapter 39 of Shock & Vibration Handbook, Third Edition, 1988, edited by Cyril M. Harris, published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. For the purpose of understanding the invention, the conventional process of testing and balancing the rotor of a machine when the machine is out of service and its rotor is placed on a balancing machine, as described in the abovementioned Handbook, is referred to as "manual" balancing, as contrasted with "automatic" balancing, which is a continuous adjustment process which takes place while the rotor is in service, implemented by some type of negative feed-back control system. Manual balancing is effective in dealing with rigid rotor vibrations, i.e. those vibrations which do not involve significant shaft flexion. This is because the rigid rotor vibration is the direct result of an initial asymmetry of mass distribution, and the asymmetry can be detected and corrected using a balancing machine. However, manual balancing is relatively ineffective in dealing with flexible rotor vibrations, because when the rotor operates at speeds which cause significant shaft flexure, a destabilizing positive feedback process becomes dominant in determining rotor dynamics. A very small initial imbalance becomes magnified in the flexible-rotor case because the shaft deforms in response to the net centrifugal force, and the deformation causes additional imbalance. This positive feedback process cannot be influenced by manual balancing, because manual balancing affects only the initial mass distribution and cannot respond to shaft flexure. On the other hand, automatic balancing, which is a control process, provides negative feedback which can compensate for the destabilizing effects of the positive feedback attributable to shaft flexure. With automatic balancing, the rotor can be operated at significantly higher speeds, and with less bearing wear, than without automatic balancing. However, prior art automatic balance systems are costly and complex. A prior art automatic balancing system might require electronic sensors to detect the imbalance, analog and/or digital electronic circuitry to process the imbalance input signals, and actuators to reposition the balance masses as required to implement the control effect. Improved automatic balancing systems are desired.

Pneumatically driven auto-balance rotor hub


A system and methods are described for transcoding media content in the background on a source computer device prior to such time as a target media playback device is connected to the source computer for synchronization of the media content. The system and methods anticipate which media content to background-transcode based on user input rules and media status data that are maintained in a transcode database. Pre-transcoding media content provides advantages that include a significant reduction in the time needed to synchronize media content between a source computer and a target media playback device, and an efficient use of CPU power for transcoding media content at times when the CPU might otherwise stand idle.

As digital media technology continues to advance and the cost of storage continues to decline, users increasingly host and consume digital media on their own primary computers (e.g., desktop PCs). Examples of such digital media include music, video, still pictures, and so on.
In addition, a corresponding increase in the availability of portable media playback devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), hand-held computers, laptop computers, and smart phones is providing users more ubiquitous access to information than ever. As users rely more and more on such portable computing devices, there is a growing need for applications that effectively transfer digital media from source devices, such as primary computers, to the portable devices.
In the past, transcoding digital media for use on portable media playback devices has been done "on-the-fly", or at the time the media is being transferred from the source device (e.g., desktop PC). Transcoding typically includes altering a media file through one or more transcoding processes including, for example, converting a media file from one format to another (e.g., MP3 to WMA) so the file will play on the playback device, down-sampling the file to a lower bit rate to reduce the amount of storage space needed on the playback device, adapting the screen size of the file so video appears correctly on the playback device. One important reason for transcoding may be to convert a media file to a format having lower CPU requirements for decoding, since "desktop" content may be too complex to decode effectively on a device with a lower-powered processor, such as a portable media playback device. On-the-fly transcoding of digital media generally occurs during synchronization of media content between a source device such as a desktop PC and a target playback device, at the time the devices are connected together.
Although transcoding can be a time-consuming process, several factors have generally made the added time needed for on-the-fly transcoding during media transfers a reasonable inconvenience. For example, until recently, most portable media playback devices were audio-only devices supporting audio file formats such as MP3 and WMA. Transcoding (e.g., changing the bit rate and/or file format) a 3 minute song file while transferring it to a playback device adds only around 20 seconds to the transfer time. In addition, limited storage capability on a playback device limits the amount of media that can be transferred to the device, making the time required for transcoding less noticeable.
With portable media playback devices now able to hold gigabytes of content, however, in addition to more and more of these devices including video capability, the time required for transcoding media content while transferring it to a playback device can have a much greater adverse impact on the overall user experience. Transferring an increased amount of media content to fill a larger storage capacity on a newer device compounds the problem of the time-consuming transcode process noted above. In addition, transcoding video content for devices that provide video playback can be much more time intensive than transcoding audio content, which is primarily what has been transcoded for most media playback devices in the past. As an example, desktop video can consume disk space at rates in excess of 1 GB per hour, and the complexity of the video encoding process causes video transcoding to generally take between ½ and 2× "real time" to complete. Therefore, performing all file transcoding tasks at the actual time that media files are being transferred to a playback device may no longer be acceptable.
Accordingly, a need exists for a way to reduce the time required for transferring digital media content when synchronizing the content between a source device and a target media playback device.


A mobile telecommunications device, such as a mobile telephone, includes an internal printer for printing on print media external to the device. A speed sensor measures the speed at which a user moves the device relative to the print media and controls the rate of ink ejection accordingly. The device may print images displayed on a display screen of the device or may print image data received through a wireless telecommunications network.

In recent years, the commercially successful models of mobile telephones have been the ones which have been the most compact. The desire for small size has prevented other devices, most notably printers, from being incorporated into the housings of mobile telephones.
Prior art printers incorporate a supply of print media into the printer and employ a print media feed mechanism to transport the print media past the printhead(s) to effect printing onto the print media. It is essential during a printing operation to synchronise the speed of the print media with the printing rate of the printhead(s) to ensure a faithful reproduction of the image being printed. Heretofore, the synchronisation of the print media with the printhead(s) has been relatively simple to accomplish because the print media feed mechanism, including the supply of print media, forms an integral part of the printer. The speed of the print media is therefore known and fixed, as is the speed at which the printhead(s) and print controller operate, with synchronisation between these features being accomplished using simple mechanical features such as gears, stepper motors and the like.
Such features however, in particular the need to have a supply of print media accommodated within the printer, have made these printers larger and heavier than they otherwise need be. Even in more compact printers employing a monolithic page-width drop-on-demand printhead arrangement of the type described in the above mentioned co-pending applications, where the printhead is fixed, there is still a need to have a supply of print media and a print media drive mechanism integral to the printer to ensure proper synchronisation between ink ejection and the motion of the print media. Up until now these requirements have limited the minimum possible printer size and have precluded the possibility of a printer being incorporated into a device such as a compact mobile telephone.


A circuit and method for adjusting the ramp voltage applied to a control gate of a non-volatile memory cell to improve programming accuracy. The method involves measuring an amount of additional voltage realized at a source of the floating gate transistor. Thereafter, a preset compensation ratio may be selected to reduce a ramp voltage applied to the control gate of the memory cell by an amount necessary to lessen the amount of additional voltage realized at the source of the floating gate transistor. This will reduce inaccurate measurement of voltages during the read-while-write voltage program technique. A voltage control circuit is connected to the control gate for precise reduction of the ramp voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of analog storage devices. More particularly, this invention relates to a circuit and method for adjusting the voltage applied to a gate of a non-volatile memory cell to improve programming accuracy.
2. Description of Prior Art
Currently, various analog storage devices are designed with circuitry used to program non-volatile (NV) memory cells of a memory array such as Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) cells. Cell programming may be accomplished by applying programming voltage to a drain of a targeted EEPROM cell in accordance to a read-while-writing voltage program technique of U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,890.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,890 describes the read-while-writing voltage program technique in which a voltage present on a source terminal of the EEPROM cell is provided to a comparator and compared with a selected target voltage. The selected target voltage is a slightly reduced voltage sampled from an input analog signal. So long as the selected target voltage is greater than the source voltage of the EEPROM cell, a high voltage ramp is supplied to the EEPROM cell. Once the selected target voltage has been reached, the supply of the high voltage ramp to the EEPROM cell is discontinued and a new voltage is calculated and loaded into the comparator to continue programming as needed.
It is well known that the exact electrical characteristics of NV memories, may vary in production due to variations in fabrication. For example, the coupling ratio tends to vary for EEPROM cells. The "coupling ratio" is a ratio of (i) the capacitance between a floating gate and a drain terminal of the floating gate transistor and (ii) the capacitance between the floating gate and a control gate. While the read-while-write voltage program technique tolerates many electrical characteristic variations, it remains vulnerable to variations in the coupling ratio. Such vulnerability occurs when a predetermined, generally constant voltage is applied to the control gate.
More specifically, as greater voltage is applied to the drain terminal of the floating gate transistor, this inadvertently causes an increase in voltage at the source terminal (source voltage). Since this source voltage is measured during the read-while-write voltage program technique to detect when to discontinue programming of the EEPROM cell, cell programming may be discontinued prematurely causing the EEPROM cell to be under-programmed. During a normal read operation, when the difference between the selected target voltage and the voltage of the EEPROM cell is determined in order to calculate a new target voltage, this new target voltage will be artificially large, not a small incremental voltage as intended. In fact, since the programming of EEPROM cells is an iterative process, the source voltage measured during the read-while-write voltage program technique will become impractically large where the target voltage can be greater than the supply voltage provided by a power supply.
Since variations in EEPROM fabrication techniques cause variation in capacitive coupling between the floating gate and the drain terminal, a standard adjustment of voltage applied to the control gate may cause inaccurate programming of EEPROM cells in certain situations. For multi-level analog voice applications, reduced accuracy appears as noise or distortion. For multi-level voltage used for digital storage, this reduced accuracy causes either errors or a reduction in the number of distinct levels which can be used per EEPROM cell. As a result, it would be desirable to develop and implement a voltage control circuit to control the compensation of ramp voltage applied to the control gate to mitigate undesirable changes in source voltage.

Method and apparatus for adjustment and control of an iterative method of recording analog signals with on chip selection of a voltage ramp amplitude


A data communication system providing for the secure transfer and sharing of data via a local area network and/or a wide area network. The system includes a secure processing unit which communicates with a personal keying device and a crypto media controller attached to a user's Workstation. The communication between these processing elements generates a variety of data elements including keys, identifiers, and attributes. The data elements are used to identify and authenticate the user, assign user security access rights and privileges, and assign media and device attributes to a data access device according to a predefined security policy. The data elements are manipulated, combined, protected, and distributed through the network to the appropriate data access devices, which prevents the user from obtaining unauthorized data.

Data Enclave
Individuals working in a departmental computing environment typically have a substantial amount of computing power on their desks in the form of personal computers and workstations. A workstation has a computational subsystem, keyboard, and display for user interaction, and typically substantial amounts of local data storage in the form of fixed and removable media.
In order for the individual in the departmental computing environment to interact and share data, their workstations are typically attached to a local area network (LAN) which permits the transfer of data files and electronic mail between the workstations. In addition, "servers" may be attached to the LAN to provide specialized services, such as the management of centralized databases, which are not practical for individual workstations.
Departmental computing environments are typically members of a larger organization or have other reasons to communicate with computing facilities outside themselves. They therefore make use of a special kind of server, called a "gateway", to gain access to a wide area network (WAN). WANs are often interconnected (called "internetting") to provide world-wide data transmission paths.


The present invention provides a data-recordable optical disk device. Test data is recorded in a predetermined area of an optical disk while varying recording power level, and an optimum recording power level is selected based on reproduced signal quality of the test data. When the optimum recording power level does not exceed an allowable recording power level of the laser diode, data is recorded at that optimum recording power level. When the optimum recording power level exceeds the allowable recording power level of the laser diode, the recording strategy is changed to a low-power strategy. A low-power strategy is, for example, a strategy having an increased recording pulse width compared to that of a standard strategy. An optimum recording power level is selected for the low-power strategy, and data is subsequently recorded.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk device, and more particularly to optimization of power level for recording data on a writable optical disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optimum Power Control (OPC) is a known technique to optimize recording power level by recording test data on a predetermined area (PCA area) of a writable optical disk, reproducing the data, and evaluating reproduced signal quality.
Nevertheless, due to temperature change within an optical disk drive or quality variance of a laser diode (LD), a recording power level yielding the optimum value of reproduced signal quality may exceed the maximum allowable power level of the laser diode. In such a case, recording cannot be performed at the actual optimum recording power level. Recording must instead be carried out at the maximum allowable power level of the LD, which is lower than the optimum power level.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 9-288827, for example, discloses maintaining recording quality by adjusting the rotational frequency of an optical disk during data recording, when, upon conducting OPC, the optimum recording power level exceeds the maximum allowable power level of the LD. Specifically, when the optimum recording power level determined by OPC exceeds the maximum allowable power level of the LD, the rotational frequency is adjusted so as to be lower according to:f′=f·(Plim/Po)2Here, f′ is the rotational frequency after the adjustment, f is the normal rotational frequency before the adjustment, Plim is the maximum allowable power level, and Po is the optimum power level. By reducing the rotational frequency in this manner, data can be recorded at the optimum power level lowered to match the maximum allowable power level.
However, it is generally difficult to control the rotational frequency with high accuracy. Moreover, reduction of rotational frequency leads to decrease in recording speed, making it difficult to fulfill the demands for high-speed recording.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-143263 describes a technique in which, when the recording pulse comprises a leading pulse and a subsequent pulse array, OPC is performed while simultaneously varying duty and recording power conditions for the leading pulse and the subsequent pulse array, so as to search for the recording condition yielding minimum jitter. This technique is disadvantageous in that the OPC processing is complex, basically requiring test recordings to be performed for the number of possible combinations of three parameters.


An image capture instrument implements an addition of accumulation signals for photodetectors which are adjacent within a row of photodetectors. Segments are defined in the row with one and the same common length of segment, while being progressively offset by an offset length which is constant. The accumulation signals are added together for photodetectors which belong to one and the same segment. The offset length is less than the segment length, and greater than half said segment length. Artifacts in the image captured, which are due to spectrum aliasing, are thus decreased. The signal-to-noise ratio of the image is increased.

The invention aims at improving the quality of the captured images when the image formation and detection conditions generate spectral aliasing, or when the signal-to-noise ratio of the image is insufficient.
A characteristic of an image capture instrument is its modulation transfer function, or MTF. This function characterizes the ability of the instrument to restore, in the captured images, patterns of the image-captured scene which have variable dimensions. Thus, the modulation transfer function is the contrast ratio between the image and the scene, for a pattern having intensity which varies sinusoidally and which is identified by its spatial frequency in the image. The modulation transfer function is obtained by varying the spatial frequency of the pattern, and by determining its contrast in the image as a function of this spatial frequency.
In a known manner, the capture of an image by the instrument has a low-pass filter effect. This effect appears as a decrease in the modulation transfer function as the spatial frequency of the pattern in the image increases.
Several contributions together constitute the modulation transfer function in the form of a product of these contributions, in order to constitute the modulation transfer function of the complete instrument. A first contribution is produced by the image formation optics which are used in the instrument. This first contribution is a decreasing function of the spatial frequency in the image, and is substantially zero for spatial frequencies which are greater than a cut-off frequency fC. This cut-off frequency is given by the following formula: fC=1/(N·λ), where:                λ is a wavelength of the radiation which is used in order to form the image, and which originates from the scene imaged by the instrument, and        N is the numerical aperture of the image formation optics: N=f/D, where f and D are, respectively, a focal length and a diameter of the pupil of these optics.
Thus, the spectral components of the scene which would correspond to spatial frequencies in the image which are greater than the cut-off frequency fC, are removed from the image by the optics themselves. In other words, the image of the scene which is formed by the optics contains only spectral components the spatial frequencies of which are less than the cut-off frequency fC.
A second contribution to the modulation transfer function is produced by the image sensor which is used in the instrument. This sensor is situated in the focal plane of the image formation optics, and comprises at least one row of photodetectors which have identical individual dimensions and are aligned with a pitch p which is constant along the row.
In a known manner, such a sensor produces a sampling of the image, with a sampling frequency fE which is equal to 1/p, when an accumulation signal is read separately in each photodetector in order to constitute a different pixel of the captured image.
When the frequency of sampling fE by the photodetectors is less than twice the cut-off frequency fC, spectral aliasing occurs because of the level of sampling, which is insufficient. This spectral aliasing relates to the spectral components of the scene having spatial frequencies in the image which are comprised between fE/2 and fC. The intensities of these spectral components appear added to those the spatial frequencies of which are less than fE. The limit constituted by half of the sampling frequency fE vis-à-vis the ability of the sensor to provide a faithful representation of the spectral components of the image, is called the Nyquist frequency.
When the image sensor is assumed to be perfect, the value of its contribution to the modulation transfer function, for the spatial frequency in the image which is equal to half of the sampling frequency fE, is equal to sinc(π/2)≈0.64, when each photodetector separately produces an accumulation signal which corresponds to a different image pixel. In the preceding formula, sinc(x) is the sinus-cardinal function, or [sin(x)]/x when it is applied to an argument x.
The modulation transfer function which results from the image formation optics and the image sensor then has a value which is still significant for half of the sampling frequency fE. The spectral aliasing then produces artifacts in the captured image, which are visible in particular when this image is merged with another of the same scene but with a sampling frequency which is greater.
A solution for reducing these artifacts consists in reducing the size of the photodetectors in order to reduce their pitch p in the row of the sensor. In this way, the sampling of the image is increased. But the image sensor, with photodetectors which are smaller, is more complex. The data rates to be processed are then greater, which also leads to increased complexity for the data processing chain which is on-board. Moreover, the image sensor which is used can be required because of various constraints, and in particular by other uses of the same sensor when a multi-purpose mission is envisaged. In other words, the individual dimension and the pitch of the photodetectors may be required.
Another solution for reducing the artifacts due to the spectral aliasing consists in reducing the dimension of the pupil of the image formation optics. Thus, the value of the modulation transfer function at half of the sampling frequency is reduced. In this way, the parasitic contribution of the aliased frequencies in the contrasts of the spectral components of the image which have spatial frequencies of less than the sampling frequency, is decreased. However, the image formation optics can be common to several functions. In particular, these optics can be common to several image capture paths which are used simultaneously, for example with intervals which are different for the wavelength of the radiation. The dimension of the pupil of the image formation optics is then fixed, without being possibly adapted separately as a function of the sensor of each imaging path.
Finally, it is also known to vary the effective dimension and the effective pitch of the photodetectors for images which are captured, by "binning" photodetectors which are adjacent along a row of the sensor. To this end, the photodetectors are grouped together in row segments, successive along the row and separate. By "adjacent photodetector binning" is meant a mode for reading the accumulation signals from the photodetectors in which the respective signals from photodetectors which belong to one and the same segment are added together. FIG. 3 illustrates such mode for reading the image sensor, as known before the present invention. In this figure, the reference number 10 denotes the individual photodetectors of the image sensor 1, and S1′, S2′, S3′, S4′ etc. denote successive and separate grouping pairs of the photodetectors 10. Consequences of such binning of the photodetectors are in particular:                the spatial sampling frequency of the image is divided by two, which represents a reduction in imaging performance; and        the signal-to-noise ratio relative to each intensity value which is used in the image as it is captured, is improved.
Such binning of the photodetectors, which aims at increasing the signal-to-noise ratio by accepting a degradation in the resolution, also gives rise to or worsens the image artifacts which are caused by the spectral aliasing.

Image capture with addition of accumulation signals for adjacent photodetectors


A press die includes die blocks placed on a base and aligned in a frame. A wedge is located between the frame and one of the die blocks. The wedge produces a wedge effect of bringing the die blocks to an aligned and fixed state. A spacer is located between the base and the wedge to set the extent of the wedge effect to a predetermined level.

The present invention relates to a press die that is used for forming, for example, a separator for a fuel cell.
Typically, separators used in fuel cells are formed by, as shown in FIG. 6, providing a plate 41 made of a hard material, such as titanium, with contiguous grooves and protrusions 42. The grooves and protrusions 42 define passages thorough which coolant or gas of hydrogen or oxygen flows.
When forming such a separator for a fuel cell, a press die apparatus as shown in FIG. 7 is conventionally used, for example. The press die apparatus includes a lower die 43 and an upper die 44. The lower die 43 has on the upper surface a die surface 431 with grooves and protrusions, and the upper die 44 has on the lower surface a die surface 441 on which grooves and protrusions are formed to correspond to the die surface 431 of the lower die 43. The upper die 44 is arranged above the lower die 43 to be brought toward and away from the lower die 43. With a plate 41, which is a workpiece, placed on the die surface 431 of the lower die 43, the upper die 44 is brought toward the lower die 43 to press the plate 41 between the die surfaces 431, 441 of the dies 43, 44, so that the grooves and protrusions 42 are formed on the plate 41.
When producing the lower die 43 and the upper die 44 of the press die apparatus, the surface of a die material is cut with a cutting tool to form the die surfaces 431, 441 having grooves and protrusions. In a case in which the die material is made of super hard metal, such as high-speed steel, the cutting tool easily becomes dull due to wear. Thus, it is difficult to form the die surfaces 431, 441 by cutting the die material at one stroke in a direction in which the grooves and protrusions extend on the die surfaces 431, 441 without replacing the cutting tool.
To deal with such a problem, a press die apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 8 has conventionally been proposed. The press die apparatus has a lower die 43 formed by die blocks 45, which are separate rectangular columns. The die blocks 45 are placed on a base 46 and fitted in a frame 47 such that the die blocks 45 are aligned. According to this configuration, limited parts of the end faces of the die blocks 45 are cut individually. Thus, the die surface 431 with grooves and protrusions can be easily formed by joining the cut surfaces. Although not illustrated, the upper die of the press die apparatus is configured by assembling die blocks as in the case of the lower die 43.
On the other hand, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-33988 discloses press die apparatus that punches a workpiece using a punch and a die. The die is a split type and is supported on a die plate to be movable in a horizontal direction. Wedges for adjusting the position of the die in the horizontal direction are arranged on the die plate. The wedges are allowed to move in the vertical direction by adjuster screws. When the wedges are moved vertically by the adjuster screws, the die is moved horizontally by the wedge effect of the wedges so that the clearance between the punch and the die is adjusted. The die is then fixed to the adjusted position.


A method and apparatus for fabricating a complex, three-dimensional structure (12), such as a truss, from composite fiber/resin includes pulling a plurality of continuous fibers (50) from a feed source (62) along a processing path (58) about a longitudinal axis (14). At least some of the fibers are wound around the longitudinal axis in opposite directions (70,72) by rotational elements to form helical and reverse helical components (30, 34) that intersect at nodes (26,28). Select nodes are engaged by engagement members (84) and are maintained radially outwardly from the longitudinal axis by a support frame (80) to create sequential discrete segments (22) in the helical and reverse helical components. The select nodes can be engaged and maintained from outside the helical and reverse helical components. Resin can be applied to the fibers by resin applicator (90) and cured. A three-dimensional structure (200) can be formed with one or more continuous fibers forming two or more different components (204, 206) of the structure and transitioning at transition nodes (207). A three-dimensional structure can be formed with the components including a sleeve (162) of braided fibers surrounding a core (163) of elongated fibers to reduce gaps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to complex, composite structures and an apparatus and method for fabricating such complex structures from composite fiber/resin. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for fabricating complex structures with a plurality of helical and/or reverse helical components, such as trusses or cylinders.
2. Related Art
Complex truss structures have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,048 that can have enhanced load bearing capacity per unit weight. Such structures can have complex configurations, including for example, a plurality of helical components formed around a longitudinal axis in opposite directions. Each helical component can include a plurality of sequential straight segments coupled end-to-end in a helical configuration. Each helical component can include three segments forming a single, complete rotation about the axis, such that the helical component has a triangular cross-sectional shape formed by the straight segments when viewed along the axis.
The plurality of helical components can include both 1) spaced-apart helical components formed around the axis in one direction or with one angular orientation, and 2) spaced-apart reverse helical components formed around the axis in another direction or with an opposing angular orientation. The straight segments of the helical and reverse helical components can form a triangular cross-sectional shape when viewed along the axis. In addition, the helical components further can include 3) spaced-apart rotated helical components, and 4) spaced-apart rotated reverse helical components, that are similar to the respective helical and reverse helical components, but rotated about the axis with respect to the helical and reverse helical components. Thus, the helical and reverse helical components form a first triangular shape, while the rotated helical and rotated reverse helical components form a second triangular shape concentric with, but rotated with respect to, the first triangular shape, to form a six-pointed star shape.
The various helical components form a basic repeating pattern along the length of the structure. In addition, the various helical components intersect one another at internal and external nodes, with the external nodes being spaced further from the axis than the internal nodes. For example, the helical and reverse helical components intersect at internal and external nodes. The structure further can include axial components that extend along the length of the structure parallel with the axis. Such axial components can intersect the helical components, including for example, at the internal and/or external nodes.
It is desirable to form such structure from composite materials to reduce weight and increase strength. In addition, it is desirable to form the helical and axial components from continuous fibers to further maximize the strength of the structure. Thus, the fibers are traversing along the structure at various angles. As stated above, such structures have shown unexpected stiffness, and strength or load bearing capacity per unit weight.
The fabrication of such structures, however, has proven to be very difficult. Wide-spread application of such structures has been frustrated by the inability to quickly, easily, and/or inexpensively manufacture such structure. It will be appreciated that such structures have complex geometries or configurations. It also will be appreciated that such complex geometries have proven ill suited for conventional manufacturing techniques.
Various manufacturing processes exist for composite fiber/resin. For example, in a pultrusion process, the fiber and resin is extruded and pulled through a die having the desired, continuous, cross-sectional shape. As another example, braiding processes overlap fibers into a sock or sleeve configuration in a continuous, closed layer. Such sleeves can be formed or disposed over a mandrel or around a die. As another example, mandrel techniques wind fiber about a solid model or mandrel with a continuous, solid outer surface having the desired configuration about which the fibers are disposed. After the fiber has been impregnated with resin, and the resin cured to form a rigid structure about the mandrel, the mandrel can be removed to leave the rigid structure.
None of these existing technologies appears suited for continuous or volume manufacturing of such complex, three-dimensional structures described above. For example, it will be appreciated that the complex, three-dimensional nature of the structure, with the straight segments extending through the structure between external nodes, makes any mandrel shaped as the structure difficult to remove from the structure itself. Similarly, it will be appreciated that the complex, three-dimensional structure has a varying cross-sectional shape, and discontinuous or open surface structure, which is ill-suited for conventional pultrusion techniques. As another example, it is unclear, how braiding techniques could be used to fabricate more complex and open structures, such as those described above.
In addition, the intersections of the various helical components at the nodes have also proven problematic. It will be appreciated that as the various fibers intersect, gaps can be formed between the fibers which can reduce the strength of the structure by as much as 90 percent.

Complex composite structures and method and apparatus for fabricating same from continuous fibers


A joint for bringing into communication a first fluid passageway and a second fluid passageway of a nut member includes a push rod and a main body. The main body forms a push rod storage space, a communication path, a seal structure forming part and a male thread part. The push rod storage space houses the push rod so that one part of the push rod protrudes along a push rod longitudinal direction. The seal structure forming part is capable of forming a seal structure by contacting a first tapered part of the nut member. The male thread part is capable of screwing together with a female thread part of the nut member such that the seal structure forming part contacts the first tapered part. The part of the portion of the push rod contacts one part of the nut member.

Members called joints are often used to connect pressure sensors, flared copper pipes, and the like, to another piping and the like.
Incidentally, among such joints, a joint of which the connection portion can be sealed by deforming a metal gasket, such as a copper gasket is well known among persons skilled in the art (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-276866).
FIG. 1(a) depicts a representative example of such a joint. The joint 10 comprises a push rod 12, a main body 11, a steel ball 15, a spring 16, a copper gasket 13, and a copper pipe part 17, as depicted in FIG. 1(a).
The push rod 12 comprises a contact part 12a, a first passageway Pc11, and a second passageway Pc12. The contact part 12a is provided at one end part in the push rod longitudinal direction X. In addition, this contact part 12a is provided with a contact tapered part 12b. Furthermore, as is clear from FIG. 1(a), this contact tapered part 12b is provided at an end part of the contact part 12a on a push rod protruding side Xl in the push rod longitudinal direction X so that it surrounds the first passageway Pc11. In addition, the contact tapered part 12b is inclined toward the outer circumference and toward the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side in the push rod longitudinal direction X. Furthermore, when a male thread part 14 and a female thread part 22 of a pressure sensor connecting nut 20 depicted in FIG. 1(b) are screwed together in a state wherein the push rod 12 is housed in a push rod storage space SPc of the main body 11 which is discussed later, then the tapered part 12b contacts a nut tapered part 21 of the pressure sensor connecting nut 20 (refer to FIG. 1(b) and FIG. 1(c)). In addition, the end part of the push rod 12 on the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side in the push rod longitudinal direction X contacts the steel ball 15. Furthermore, the push rod 12 and the steel ball 15 are urged toward the push rod protruding side X1 in the push rod longitudinal direction X by a spring 16. Namely, when an external force is applied from the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side in the push rod longitudinal direction X, the push rod 12 is capable of moving along the push rod longitudinal direction X toward the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side. The first passageway Pc11 is formed along the push rod longitudinal direction X. In addition, the second passageway Pc12 is formed along a direction perpendicular to the push rod longitudinal direction X. Furthermore, the first passageway Pc11 and the second passageway Pc12 are in communication and form a first transit path Pc1.
The main body 11 comprises the push rod storage space SPc, the male thread part 14, and a second transit path Pc2. The push rod 12 is housed in the push rod storage space SPc so that the contact part 12a of the push rod 12 protrudes externally. Furthermore, the push rod storage space SPc, in a state wherein the push rod 12 is so housed, is in communication with the first transit path Pc1. The male thread part 14 is provided so that it surrounds the outer circumference of the push rod storage space SPc. Furthermore, the male thread part 14 is capable of screwing together with the female thread part 22 of the pressure sensor connecting nut 20 along the push rod longitudinal direction X (refer to FIG. 1(b)). The fluid that comes flowing from a fluid passageway of a copper piping (not shown) which is to be connected, flows to the second transit path Pc2.
The steel ball 15 is disposed in the second transit path Pc2 and urged by the spring 16, thereby separating between the push rod storage space SPc and the second transit path Pc2.
The spring 16 is disposed in the second transit path Pc2, the same as the steel ball 15, and urges the push rod 12 and the steel ball 15, as discussed above.
The copper gasket 13 is disposed in the space interposed between the surface of the contact part 12a on the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side in the push rod longitudinal direction X and the surface of the main body 11 on the push rod protruding side X1 in the push rod longitudinal direction X.
The copper pipe part 17 comprises a third transit path Pc3 and is connected to the lower end of the main body 11 by a solder 18. Furthermore, the lower end of the copper pipe part 17 is connected to the copper piping (not shown) by braising beforehand so that the passageway of the copper piping (not shown) to be connected and the third transit path Pc3 of the copper pipe part 17 are in communication.
Furthermore, to screw together the male thread part 14 of the joint 10 and the female thread part 22 of the pressure sensor connecting nut 20, the contact tapered part 12b first comes into contact with the nut tapered part 21 of the pressure sensor connecting nut 20, and the push rod 12 and the steel ball 15 then begin to move against the spring force of the spring 16 toward the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side in the push rod longitudinal direction X. As a result, a passageway Pp of the pressure sensor connecting nut 20 and a first transit path Pc1 of the push rod 12 communicate; additionally, the push rod storage space SPc and the second transit path Pc2 also communicate (refer to FIG.(c)). Furthermore, as the screwing together progresses, the copper gasket 13, which is deformed by being compressed by the surface of the contact part 12a on the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side in the push rod longitudinal direction X and the surface of the main body 11 on the push rod protruding side X1 in the push rod longitudinal direction X, seals the gap between the contact part 12a and the main body 11. In this state, the contact tapered part 12b and the nut tapered part 21 of the pressure sensor connecting nut 20 are sufficiently crimped, thereby sufficiently sealing the contact part 12a and the pressure sensor connecting nut 20.
In addition, the joint 10 is capable, in cooperation with a flared copper pipe connecting nut 40 depicted in FIG. 1(e), of connecting a flared copper pipe 30 depicted in FIG. 1(d) with another copper piping (not shown). Furthermore, the second transit path Pc2 of the joint 10 is connected to the fluid passageway of another copper piping (not shown) by braising, the same as in the case of the pressure sensor connecting nut 20. In addition, to connect the flared copper pipe 30 to the joint 10, the flared copper pipe 30 is inserted in advance into an opening HL of the flared copper pipe connecting nut 40 as depicted in FIG. 1(f). Furthermore, although a flared part 31 of the flared copper pipe 30 and a nut tapered part 41 of the flared copper pipe connecting nut 40 appear to be tightly sealed in FIG. 1(f), the flared part 31 of the flared copper pipe 30 and the nut tapered part 41 of the flared copper pipe connecting nut 40 are not necessarily tightly sealed in this state.
Furthermore, continuing with screwing together the male thread part 14 of the joint 10 and a female thread part 42 of the flared copper pipe connecting nut 40, the contact tapered part 12b first makes contact with the flared part 31 of the flared copper pipe 30, and then the push rod 12 and the steel ball 15 begin to move against the spring force of the spring 16 toward the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side in the push rod longitudinal direction X. As a result, a passageway Pf of the flared copper pipe 30 and a first transit path Pc1 of the push rod 12 communicate, and the push rod storage space SPc and the second transit path Pc2 also communicate (refer to FIG. 1(g)). Furthermore, as the screwing together progresses, the copper gasket 13, which is deformed by being compressed by the surface of the contact part 12a on the opposite side X2 of the push rod protruding side in the push rod longitudinal direction X and the surface of the main body 11 on the push rod protruding side X1 in the push rod longitudinal direction X, seals the gap between the contact part 12a and the main body 11. Furthermore, in this state, the flared part 31 of the flared copper pipe 30 is sufficiently pressed interposingly between the contact tapered part 12b and the nut tapered part 41 of the flared copper pipe connecting nut 40, thereby sufficiently sealing the flared part 31, the contact part 12a, and the flared copper pipe connecting nut 40.


A toroidal-type continuously variable transmission, has: first and second disks; a plurality of trunnions; a plurality of displacement shafts respectively supported on associated trunnions; a plurality of power rollers respectively interposed between the first and second disks; and, a plurality of thrust bearings respectively interposed between the power rollers and trunnions, each of the thrust bearings including an outer ring, an inner raceway formed in the outer end face of the power roller, a plurality of rolling elements, and a circular-ring-shaped retainer, wherein, in case where the density of a retainer material constituting the retainer is ρd, the elastic modulus of the retainer material is Ed, the density of rolling element materials is ρc and the elastic modulus of the rolling element materials is Ec,

1. Field of the Invention
A toroidal-type continuously variable transmission according to the present invention is used, for example, as a transmission unit for a transmission for a car, or as a transmission for various industrial machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, use of such a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission as is roughly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and as a transmission for a car has been studied and also such use has been practically enforced in part of the car industry. In the case of this conventional toroidal-type continuously variable transmission, as disclosed in e.g. JP-UM-A-62-71465, an input side disk 2 serving as a first disk is supported concentrically with an input shaft 1 and, to the end portion of an output shaft 3 which is disposed concentrically with the input shaft 1, there is fixed an output side disk 4 serving as a second disk. In the interior of a casing in which the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is stored, there are disposed trunnions 6, 6 which can be swung about their associated pivot shafts 5, 5 provided at such positions that do not cross the center axes of the input shaft 1 and output shaft 3 but are twisted at right angles or in a direction near to right angles with respect to the direction of these center axes.
That is, the pivot shafts 5, 5 are disposed on the outer surfaces of the two end portions of their associated trunnions 6, 6 in such a manner that the pivot shafts 5, 5 are concentric with each other. Also, on the middle portions of the trunnions 6, 6, there are supported the base half sections of their associated displacement shafts 7, 7; and, by swinging the trunnions 6, 6 about their associated pivot shafts 5, 5, the inclination angles of the displacement shafts 7, 7 can be adjusted freely. On the peripheries of the front half sections of the displacement shafts 7, 7 supported on the trunnions 6, 6, there are rotatably supported their associated power rollers 8, 8, respectively. And, the power rollers 8, 8 are respectively held by and between the mutually opposing inner surfaces 2a, 4a of the input side and output side disks 2, 4. And, the section of each of the inner surfaces 2a, 4a is formed as a concave-shaped surface which can be obtained by rotating an arc with the pivot shaft 5 as a center thereof or a curved line near to such arc around the center axes of the input shaft 1 and output shaft 3. And, the peripheral surfaces 8a, 8a of the power rollers 8, 8, which are formed as spherically-convex-shaped surfaces, are contacted with the inner surfaces 2a, 4a.
Between the input shaft 1 and input side disk 2, there is interposed a pressing device 9 of a loading cam type and, using this pressing device 9, the input side disk 2 can be elastically pressed toward the output side disk 4. The pressing device 9 is composed of a cam plate 10 rotatable together with the input shaft 1 and a plurality of (for example, four) rollers 12, 12 which are rollably held by a retainer 11. In one side surface (in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left side surface) of the cam plate 10, there is formed a drive-side cam surface 13 which is an uneven surface with respect to the circumferential direction of the cam plate 10; and, in the outer surface (in FIGS. 1 and 2, the right side surface) of the input side disk 2 as well, there is formed a driven-side cam surface 14 having a similar shape to the drive-side cam surface 13. And, the plurality of rollers 12, 12 are supported in such a manner that they can be rotated about their radial-direction axes with respect to the center of the input shaft 1.
When the above-structured toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is in operation, in case where the cam plate 10 is rotated as the input shaft 1 is rotated, the drive-side cam surface 13 presses the plurality of rollers 12, 12 against the driven-side cam surface 14 formed in the outer surface of the input side disk 2. As a result of this, the input side disk 2 is pressed against the plurality of power rollers 8, 8 and, at the same time, due to the mutual pressing operation between the drive-side, driven-side cam surfaces 13, 14 and the plurality of rollers 12, 12, the input side disk 2 is rotated. And, the rotational power of the input side disk 2 can be transmitted through the plurality of power rollers 8, 8 to the output side disk 4, so that the output shaft 3 fixed to the output side disk 4 can be rotated.
Now, description will be given here of a case where the rotation speed ratio (transmission ratio) between the input shaft 1 and output shaft 3 is to be changed. Firstly, to reduce the speed between the input shaft 1 and output shaft 3, the trunnions 6, 6 may be swung in a given direction about their associated pivot shafts 5, 5. And, the displacement shafts 7, 7 may be inclined in such a manner that the peripheral surfaces 8a, 8a of the power rollers 8, 8, as shown in FIG. 1, can be contacted with the near-to-center portion of the inner surface 2a of the input side disk 2 and the near-to-outer-periphery portion of the inner surface 4a of the output side disk 4. On the other hand, to increase the speed between the input shaft 1 and output shaft 3, the trunnions 6, 6 may be swung in the opposite direction about their associated pivot shafts 5, 5. And, the displacement shafts 7, 7 may be inclined in such a manner that the peripheral surfaces 8a, 8a of the power rollers 8, 8, as shown in FIG. 2, can be contacted with the near-to-outer-periphery portion of the inner surface 2a of the input side disk 2 and the near-to-center portion of the inner surface 4a of the output side disk 4. By the way, in case where the inclination angles of these displacement shafts 7, 7 are set at intermediate angles between the angles shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, there can be obtained an intermediate transmission ratio between the input shaft 1 and output shaft 3.
Also, FIGS. 3 and 4 show an example of a more specified structure of a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission which is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,246. In this structure, an input side disk 2 and an output side disk 4 are rotatably supported through their associated needle roller bearings 16, 16 on the periphery of a circular-pipe-shaped input shaft 15. Also, a cam plate 10 is spline engaged with the outer peripheral surface of the end portion (in FIG. 3, the left end portion) of the input shaft 15, while a flange portion 17 prevents the cam plate 10 from moving in a direction to part away from the input side disk 2. And, the cam plate 10 and rollers 12, 12 cooperate together in constituting a pressing device 9 of a loading cam type which, based on the rotation of the input shaft 15, rotates the input side disk 2 while pressing the same toward the output side disk 4. An output gear 18 is connected to the output side disk 4 using keys 19, 19, so that the output side disk 4 and output gear 18 can be rotated in synchronization with each other.
The respective two-end portions of a pair of trunnions 6, 6 are supported on a pair of support plates 20, 20 in such a manner that they can be swung and also can be shifted in the axial direction (in FIG. 3, in the front and back direction; and, in FIG. 4, in the right and left direction) of their associated pivot shafts 5, 5. And, a pair of displacement shafts 7, 7 are respectively supported on the circular holes 21, 21 portions of the respective trunnions 6, 6. These two displacement shafts 7, 7 respectively include support shaft portions 22, 22 and pivot support shaft portions 23, 23 which are arranged in parallel to each other but are eccentric to each other. Of these portions, the support shaft portions 22, 22 are rotatably supported on the interior sides of their associated circular holes 21, 21 through their associated radial needle roller bearings 24, 24. Also, on the peripheries of the pivot support shaft portions 23, 23, there are rotatably supported power rollers 8, 8 through another radial needle roller bearings 25, 25.
By the way, the pair of displacement shafts 7, 7 are disposed at positions which are 180-degree opposite with respect to the input shaft 15. Also, the direction, in which the pivot support shaft portions 23, 23 of the displacement shafts 7, 7 are eccentric to the support shaft portions 22, 22, is the same direction (in FIG. 4, in the reversed right and left direction) with respect to the rotation direction of the input side and output side disks 2, 4. And, the eccentric direction is a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the mounting direction of the input shaft 15. Therefore, the power rollers 8, 8 are supported in such a manner that they can be slightly shifted with respect to the mounting direction of the input shaft 15. As a result of this, even in case where the power rollers 8, 8 tend to shift in the axial direction (in FIG. 3, in the right and left direction; and, in FIG. 4, in the front and back direction) of the input shaft 15 due to the elastic deformation of these composing parts of the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission caused by large loads applied to these composing parts while the rotation power is in transmission, such shifting movements of the power rollers 8, 8 can be absorbed without applying unreasonable forces to the composing parts.
Also, between the outer end faces of the power rollers 8, 8 and the inner surfaces of the middle portions of the trunnions 6, 6, there are interposed thrust bearings such as thrust ball bearings 26, 26 servings as thrust rolling bearings and thrust needle roller bearings 35, 35 sequentially in the order starting from the outer end faces of the power rollers 8, 8. Of these bearings, the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 allow the power rollers 8, 8 to rotate while supporting thrust-direction loads applied to the power rollers 8, 8. To constitute such thrust ball bearings 26, 26, in the outer end faces of the power rollers 8, 8, there are formed inner raceways 27, 27 each of a deep groove type or of an angular type. Also, in the inner surfaces of outer rings 28, 28 supported on the inner surfaces of the trunnions 6, 6 through the thrust needle roller bearings 35, 35, there are formed outer raceways 29, 29 each of a deep groove type or of an angular type. And, between the outer raceways 29, 29 and inner raceways 27, 27, there are rollably interposed a plurality of balls 30, 30 which serve as rolling elements. These balls 30, 30 are rollably held by their associated retainers 31, 31 in such a manner that they are spaced from one another in the circumferential direction thereof.
Also, the thrust bearings such as the thrust needle roller bearings 35, 35 or sliding bearings, while supporting thrust loads applied from the power rollers 8, 8 to the outer rings 28, 28 constituting the thrust ball bearings 26, 26, allow the pivot support shaft portions 23, 23 and outer rings 28, 28 to swing about their associated support shaft portions 22, 22.
Further, to the one-end portions (in FIG. 4, the left end portions) of the respective trunnions 6, 6, there are connected drive rods 32, 32 respectively; and, to the outer peripheral surfaces of the middle portions of the drive rods 32, 32, there are fixedly secured drive pistons 33, 33 respectively. And, these drive pistons 33, 33 are respectively oil-tight fitted into their associated drive cylinders 34, 34.
In the case of the above-structured toroidal-type continuously variable transmission, the rotation power of the input shaft 15 is transmitted through the pressing device 9 to the input side disk 2. And, the rotation power of the input side disk 2 is transmitted through a pair of power rollers 8, 8 to the output side disk 4 and further the rotation power of the output side disk 4 is taken out from the output gear 18. To change the rotation speed ratio between the input shaft 15 and output gear 18, the pair of drive pistons 33, 33 may be shifted in the mutually opposite directions. As the drive pistons 33, 33 are shifted, the pair of trunnions 6, 6 are shifted in the mutually opposite directions; for example, the power roller 8 situated on the lower side in FIG. 4 is shifted to the right in FIG. 4, while the power roller 8 on the upper side is shifted to the left in FIG. 4. This changes the direction of tangential-direction forces acting on the contact portions between the peripheral surfaces 8a, 8a of the power rollers 8, 8 and the inner surfaces 2a, 4a of the input side disk 2 and output side disk 4. And, as the direction of the tangential-direction forces is changed, the trunnions 6, 6 are respectively swung in the mutually opposite directions about their associated pivot shafts 5, 5 pivotally supported on their associated support plates 20, 20. As a result of this, as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the contact positions between the peripheral surfaces 8a, 8a of the power rollers 8, 8 and the inner surfaces 2a, 4a are caused to change, thereby changing the rotation speed ratio between the input shaft 15 and output gear 18.
By the way, when the rotation power is transmitted between the input shaft 15 and output gear 18 in this manner, the power rollers 8, 8 are shifted in the axial direction of the input shaft 15 due to the elastic deformation of the composing parts, and the displacement shafts 7, 7 pivotally supporting these power rollers 8, 8 are slightly rotated about their associated support shaft portions 22, 22. As a result of the slight rotation of the displacement shafts 7, 7, the outer surfaces of the outer rings 28, 28 of the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 and the inner surfaces of the trunnions 6, 6 are caused to shift with respect to each other. Since the thrust needle roller bearings 35, 35 are interposed between these outer and inner surfaces, the force necessary for the above relative shifting movements may be small. Therefore, there can be used a small force to change the inclination angles of the displacement shafts 7, 7 in the above-mentioned manner.
Also, in the case of the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission structured and operatable in the above-mentioned manner, large forces are easy to be applied to the retainers 31, 31 which constitute the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 for supporting the power rollers 8, 8 in a rotatably manner, which makes it difficult to secure the durability of these retainers 31, 31. The reason for this is that the revolving speeds of the plurality of balls 30, 30 around the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are caused to vary. Especially, in the case of the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 to be incorporated into a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission, the revolving speeds of the balls 30, 30 around the bearings 26, 26 vary greatly because a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission originally has the following problems I, II.
I. Not only the internal clearances of the radial needle roller bearings 25, 25, which support together with the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 the power rollers 8, 8 in a rotatable manner, are large, but also, when the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is in operation, thrust loads as well as radial loads are applied to the power rollers 8, 8.
That is, the power rollers 8, 8 are requested to bring their respective peripheral surfaces 8a, 8a into uniform contact with the inner surface 2a of the input side disk 2 and the inner surface 4a of the output side disk 4. For this reason, in order to be able to realize the delicate and quick shifting movements of the power rollers 8, 8, the internal clearances of the radial needle roller bearings 25, 25 are set large. As a result of this, the center axes of the power rollers 8, 8 and the center axes of the outer rings 28, 28 constituting the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are easy to disagree with each other.
Further, when the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is in operation, to the power rollers 8, 8, there are applied, as a radial load, a force (a so called 2 Ft traction force) which is applied to the power rollers 8, 8 from the rolling contact portions between the peripheral surfaces 8a, 8a of the power rollers 8, 8 and the inner surfaces 2a, 4a of the input side and output side disks 2, 4. And, due to this radial load, the above-mentioned center axes are caused to disagree with each other.
And, in case where the center axes disagree with each other, the contact angles of the plurality of balls 30, 30 constituting the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 differ from each other. As known well, since the revolving speeds of rolling elements such as balls 30, 30 constituting rolling bearings around the rolling bearings vary according to their contact angles, in case where the angles of the plurality of balls 30, 30 constituting the same thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are different from each other, the revolving speeds of the balls 30, 30 around the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are caused to differ from each other.
II. The power rollers 8, 8 are elastically deformed unevenly with respect to the circumferential direction thereof. That is, the peripheral surfaces 8a, 8a of the power rollers 8, 8 are contacted with the inner surfaces 2a, 4a of the input side and output side disks 2, 4 at two positions on the opposite sides in the circumferential direction (on the two end sides in the diameter direction), so that the power rollers 8, 8 receive large pressing forces, which go inwardly in the diameter direction, from the two side surfaces 2a, 4a. Due to this, when the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is in operation, the power rollers 8, 8 are elastically deformed into elliptical shapes. Due to the elastically deformed power rollers 8, 8, the inner raceways 27, 27 constituting the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are also elastically deformed into elliptical shapes, with the result that the revolving speeds of the balls 30, 30 around the bearings 26, 26 rotating in contact with the inner raceways 27, 27 are caused to differ from each other.
At any rate, in the case of the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 which constitute the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission, the revolving speeds of the plurality of balls 30, 30 around the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are varied and also the degree of the variation is outstandingly large when compared with a rolling bearing of an ordinary type. In case where the revolving speeds of the balls 30, 30 around the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are different from each other in this manner, the distances between the mutually adjoining balls 30, 30 in the circumferential direction thereof are caused to vary. Here, FIG. 5 shows how the circumferential-direction positions (direction angles) of the balls 30, 30 constituting the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are shifted when compared with the reference positions (the positions when the revolving speeds of the balls 30, 30 around the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are assumed that they are not varied but are constant). As can be seen clearly from FIG. 5, the revolving speeds of the balls 30, 30, which constitute the thrust ball bearings 26, 26, around the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 may be increased or decreased according to their circumferential-direction positions.
As described above, in case where the revolving speeds of the balls 30, 30, which constitute the thrust ball bearings 26, 26, around the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 are varied, the rolling surfaces of these balls 30, 30 interfere with the retainer 31, so that a force is applied to this retainer 31. As a result of this, a bending stress is repeatedly applied to part of the retainer 31 and, therefore, as the bearings are used for a long period of time, there is a possibility that there can occur damage such as a crack in the retainer 31. In case where the retainer 31 is omitted, the rolling surfaces of the balls 30, 30 adjoining each other in the circumferential direction are contacted with each other and thus the rolling surfaces of the balls 30, 30 shifting in the mutually opposite directions are strongly rubbed against each other, which results in the increased torque loss. Therefore, it is impossible to employ the structure in which the retainer 31 is omitted.
In view of the above-mentioned circumstances of the above-cited toroidal-type continuously variable transmission, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,245, there is disclosed a structure in which clearances between the inner surfaces of retainer pockets and the rolling surfaces of balls are increased to thereby prevent these two surfaces from interfering with each other regardless of variations in the revolving speeds of the balls. Also, in JP-A-2001-50360, there is disclosed a structure in which, between balls adjoining each other in the circumferential direction thereof, there are interposed elements which constitute a separator and are independent of each other, thereby preventing the rolling surfaces of the balls adjoining each other in the circumferential direction thereof from being contacted with each other.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,245, in the case of the structure in which the clearances between the inner surfaces of the pockets of the retainer and the rolling surfaces of the balls are increased, there increase vibrations which are generated when a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is operated on the speed increasing side. That is, the sizes of the above clearances are set according to a state where the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is operated on the speed reducing side in which the variations in the revolving speeds of the balls around their associated bearings increase. Therefore, in case where the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is operated on the speed increasing side, the above clearances are excessively large and thus the retainer is easy to vibrate. And, when the retainer vibrates, not only the vibration itself generates a strange sound but also, with the vibration of the retainer, the inner surface of the retainer pockets and the rolling surfaces of the balls are heavily collided with each other, thereby raising a possibility that the durability of the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 including the power rollers 8, 8.
Now, With reference to FIGS. 6A to 6D, description will be given below of the fact that the durability of the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 of a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission including this retainer is influenced by the sizes of the clearances between the inner surfaces of the pockets of the retainer and the rolling surfaces of the balls.
Firstly, FIG. 6A shows a state in which, between an inner raceway 27 formed in the outer end face of the power roller 8 and an outer raceway 29 formed in the inner surface of an outer ring 28 not only the balls 30 serving as rolling elements rotate around the bearing while rotating about their own axes, but also the retainer 31 holding the balls 30 in their associated pockets 36 rotates without being contacted with these balls 30.
Next, FIG. 6B shows a state in which there is generated a difference between the revolving speeds of the balls 30 around the bearing and the rotation speed of the retainer 31, with the result that the rolling surfaces of the balls 30 and the inner surfaces of the pockets 36 are collided with each other. In this state, to these two surfaces, there are applied forces (collision forces) which are generated by the collision and respectively have a value of W. On the other hand, it is believed that, to each of the balls 30, there is applied a friction force fs based on the rolling element load Q of this ball 30. In case where the collision force W is equal to or less than the friction force fs(W≦ƒs), regardless of the above collision, the ball 30 is allowed to roll on without causing the contact portion between the rolling surface of the ball 30 and the above-mentioned inner raceway 27 and outer raceway 29 to slip. On the other hand, in case where the collision force W exceeds the friction force fs(W>ƒs), the ball 30 rolls while causing the contact portion between the rolling surface of the ball 30 and the above-mentioned inner raceway 27 and outer raceway 29 to slip. Such revolution of the ball 30 around the bearing with such slippage increases the amount of heat to be generated in the contact portion between the rolling surface of the ball 30 and the inner raceway 27 and outer raceway 29. As a result of this, not only the rolling resistance of the thrust rolling bearing such as the thrust ball bearing 26 increases to thereby lower the efficiency of the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission but also the durability of the ball rolling surface and the respective raceways 27, 29 is lowered.
Next, let us conduct a further examination of the size of the collision force W. It is assumed here that the rotation speed of the retainer 31 becomes faster than the revolving speed of the ball 30 around the bearing; and thus, the inner surface of the pocket of the retainer 31, as shown by an arrow mark A in FIG. 6A, approaches the rolling surface of the ball 30 at a relative speed (collision speed) v and these two surfaces are collided with each other. In such collision, it is believed that the inner surface portion of the pocket 36 of the retainer 31, as shown in FIGS. 6C, 6D, functions as a spring and supports the kinetic energy due to its own rigidity to thereby generate the collision force W. The kinetic energy to be converted into the collision force W by the inner surface portion of the pocket 36 in this manner can be expressed by an equation, that is, m·v2/2, where the mass of the retainer 31 is expressed as m.
Also, the energy that is opposed to the collision force W due to the rigidity of the retainer 31 can be expressed by the following equation: that is, k·x2/2, where the spring constant of the retainer 31 is expressed as k and a flex amount caused by the collision is expressed as x.
When the collision force W is viewed from the retainer 31 side, because W=k·x, there can be obtained k·x2/2=W2/2k.
Also, according to the law of the conservation of energy, there can be obtained the following equation:
That is, W2/2k=m·v2/2
  W  =                    (                  m          ·          k                )                    1        2              ·          v      .
This equation shows that, as the mass m and rigidity (spring constant k) of the retainer increase, and also as the collision speed v between the inner surface of the pocket 36 and the rolling surface of the ball 30 increase, the collision force w increases.
Also, of the above components, the collision speed v can be expressed by the acceleration α of the retainer 31 with respect to the ball 30 and the size of a clearance C between the rolling surface of the ball 30 and the inner surface of the pocket 36 of the retainer 31: that is,
  v  =                    (                  2                                α            ·            C                          )                    1        2              .
From this equation, it can be found that, as the clearance C increases, the collision speed increases and the collision force W increases. Also, this fact shows that, as disclosed in the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,245, in case where the clearance between the rolling surface of the ball 30 and the inner surface of the pocket 36 of the retainer 31 is increased, the vibrations to be generated when the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is operated in a speed increasing mode and the play of the retainer 31 with respect to the ball 30 increases are increased; and thus, in case where no countermeasure is enforced, the durability of the thrust ball bearing can be lowered.
On the other hand, in the case of the structure disclosed in the above-cited JP-A-2001-50360, it is difficult to stabilize the attitudes of the respective elements constituting the separator and thus it is also difficult to restrict the generation of the vibrations in the thrust ball bearings 26, 26 portions of the structure when the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission in operation.
As a technique for preventing the damage of the retainer that is caused by variations in the revolving speeds of the balls around the bearings, there is further known a structure disclosed in JP-A-2001-254792. However, this structure also has similar problems to the above-cited structures.

Toroidal-type continuously variable transmission

Abstract: {                        (                                    ρ              d                        ·                          E              d                                )                /                  (                                    ρ              c                        ·                          E              c                                )                    }              1      2        ≤  0.6is satisfied.


A display system can include a panel 110. The panel 110 can include a perimeter 117 and can display images on a front side. A bezel 170 can extend from the perimeter of the panel. The display system can include a designated area 140 on the bezel. A three dimensional optical sensor 115 can generate information to determine if an object is in contact with the designated area on the bezel.

A resistive touch screen panel is composed of two thin, metallic, electrically conductive layers separated by a narrow gap. When an object, such as a finger, presses down on a point on the panel's outer surface the two metallic layers become connected at that point and the panel then behaves as a pair of voltage dividers with connected outputs. This causes a change in the electrical current which is registered as a touch event and sent to the controller for processing. A capacitive touch screen panel is a sensor that is a capacitor in which plates include overlapping areas between the horizontal and vertical axes in a grid pattern. The human body also conducts electricity and a touch on the surface of the sensor will affect the electric field and create a measurable change in the capacitance of the device.

Hewlett-Packard Development Compamy, L.P.


Panel comprising an array of barrier ribs each having a base resting on a plate and a top in contact with another plate that includes at least two arrays of coplanar electrodes each preferably having a constant width. According to the invention, these barrier ribs have, at their top, a low-permittivity region of thickness greater than 3 μm and less than or equal to one fifth of their total height, which has a mean dielectric permittivity at least three times smaller than the dielectric permittivity of these barrier ribs measured at their base. Thanks to the invention, the confinement of the plasma discharges far from the barrier ribs is substantially improved.

The invention relates to a plasma display panel comprising, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, a first plate 11 and a second plate 12 leaving between them a space filled with a discharge gas and compartmentalized into a number of discharge cells 18 arranged in rows and columns, which also includes an array of insulating barrier ribs comprising barrier ribs 15 each separating two adjacent columns of cells, the first plate including at least two arrays of coplanar electrodes Y, Y′ called sustain electrodes, which are oriented in general directions that are parallel to one another and perpendicular to said barrier ribs, having a constant width perpendicular to these general directions, and are arranged in such a way that each discharge cell is traversed by an electrode of each array.
Since the barrier ribs 15 each separate two adjacent columns of cells, these barrier ribs are called column barrier ribs, as opposed to row barrier ribs described later.
Each discharge cell is therefore traversed by a pair of sustain electrodes and each pair of sustain electrodes therefore supplies a row of discharge cells; all the adjacent cells of any one row are separated by a column barrier rib made of insulating material; in this way, in the general direction of the coplanar electrodes, the widths of the various cells in any one row are limited by these column barrier ribs. These barrier ribs generally serve as spacers between the plates of the panel.
The coplanar electrodes are covered with a dielectric layer 13 which is itself coated with a protective/secondary-electron-emissive layer 14, generally based on magnesia.
The second plate includes a third array of electrodes X called address electrodes, each placed between two column barrier ribs. Thus, each address electrode therefore supplies a column of discharge cells. These address electrodes may also be covered with a dielectric layer 17.
The array of barrier ribs in certain panels of the prior art also include barrier ribs 16 called row barrier ribs each separating two adjacent rows of cells, in such a way that each cell of the panel is therefore bounded, over its entire perimeter, by barrier ribs as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B.
The operation of driving the plasma panels conventionally includes address periods intended to activate those cells that have to be turned on, followed by sustain periods during which series of sustain voltage pulses are applied between the sustain electrodes Y, Y′ supplying a row of cells, and the gap G separating these electrodes. The amplitude of these sustain pulses must be sufficient to cause discharges in those cells in the row that have been actuated beforehand but insufficient to cause discharges in the cells of this row that have not been activated beforehand.
The addressing of the discharge cells generally takes place between a column electrode and one of the row electrodes, which also serves for sustaining.
The discharge cells and the space between the plates are filled with a low-pressure gas suitable for obtaining discharges that emit ultraviolet radiation.
The walls of each cell are generally provided with a layer of a phosphor capable of emitting visible radiation, especially in the red, green or blue, when it is excited by the ultraviolet radiation of the discharges. These layers are generally deposited on the second plate and on the side walls of the barrier ribs.
In the case of panels emitting three primary colors, namely red, green and blue, these adjacent discharge cells have phosphors of different colors so that discharges emitting indirectly in the red, the green and the blue are obtained.
It is in general the first plate, the one bearing the coplanar electrodes, which serves as the front plate turned toward the person observing the images that the panel is capable of displaying. To prevent the electrodes of the front plate absorbing too great a portion of the visible radiation coming from the cells, the coplanar electrodes are preferably made of a material that is both conductive and transparent, such as tin oxide or mixed indium tin oxide (ITO); as these transparent electrodes are not in general conductive enough, the arrays of transparent electrodes are generally "duplicated" with opaque metal conductors, called "bus conductors" since they distribute the electrical discharge current to the transparent electrodes. Conventionally, the linear electrical conductivity of the bus is greater than that of the initiating conductor. The bus is made of a highly conductive metallic material, such as silver, and consequently it is opaque to light.
During a sustain period, when an electrical voltage pulse of sufficient amplitude is applied between two coplanar electrodes Y, Y′ of any one pair, in a cell supplied via these electrodes and activated beforehand during an address period, a discharge is initiated in the gap G near the initiation edge 191 of one of these electrodes, over a front that extends between the column barrier ribs 15 that define, widthwise, this cell at this point. As shown in FIG. 1A, the discharge is initiated in this cell in an initiation region Za of the portion of this electrode that corresponds to this cell. It is preferable for the surface potential properties of the dielectric layer 13 coating this electrode to be sufficiently uniform to allow initiation of the discharge at low voltage. After initiation, the discharge spreads out perpendicular to the general direction of the coplanar electrodes as far as the end-of-discharge edge 192 of the electrode, on the opposite side from the initiation edge. The phase during which the discharge spreads out, called the expansion phase, allows the formation of a discharge region with a low electric field, this being very effective for exciting the gas and producing ultraviolet photons. The expansion phase therefore improves the luminous efficiency of the discharges. During the expansion phase, when the discharge expands up to the end-of-discharge edge of the electrode, the discharge occupies almost all of the gas space bounded by the two column barrier ribs 15 that define the width of the cell.
During a sustain period, immediately before an electrical voltage pulse has been applied between two coplanar electrodes Y, Y′ of any one pair traversing a cell, the dielectric layer region that covers these electrodes is generally covered with residual charges called "memory charges", coming in particular from the previous discharge in that cell. Immediately at the start of application of an electrical voltage pulse and before any new discharge, the discharge gas region lying between these two electrodes is then subjected to the sum of the voltage applied between these electrodes and of the voltage resulting from the memory charges coming from the previous sustain pulse.
FIG. 3 shows, at the start of a sustain voltage pulse of 100 V amplitude applied to the electrodes, which follows from other identical AC pulses that have left memory charges, the distribution of the equipotential voltage lines in a cross section on A1-A1′ of the discharge expansion region, between the middle of a column barrier rib 15 and the middle of the cell, this range corresponding to half the distance between the centers of two adjacent column barrier ribs, that is to say the half-width of a discharge cell. The equipotential lines, shown as continuous lines, correspond to positive values of the potential while the equipotential lines shown as broken lines correspond to negative values of the potential. The potential difference between two adjacent equipotential curves is constant and suitable for obtaining twenty "positive" equipotential curves shown as continuous lines. During the initiating 100 V voltage pulse, it is assumed here that the electrode in question, Y, acts as cathode and that the negative memory charges stored in this cell on the surface of the dielectric layer 13 come from the discharge generated by the previous sustain voltage pulse of the same series, but of opposite sign. In this figure, the equipotential curve V corresponds to the first negative equipotential (shown in broken lines, as opposed to the continuous lines of the positive equipotentials) and indicates the presence of a negative charge deposited at this point on the surface of the column barrier rib 15. The distribution of this equipotential depthwise in the column barrier rib indicates that, after initiation caused by the pulse in question, the discharge will spread out over the side walls of the barrier ribs, and therefore beyond the surface of the dielectric layer 13 and the protection layer 14 covering the electrode Y. During sustain periods in which the panel emits light, the barrier ribs will therefore be in substantial contact with the discharges. This phenomenon results in bigger losses of the charged species on the barrier ribs and to accelerated deterioration of the phosphor material covering these barrier ribs with, as a consequence, a reduction in the luminous efficiency and a reduction in the lifetime of the panel.
The prior art, illustrated for example by document EP 0 782 167 (PIONEER), proposes a solution to this problem that is shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a schematic top view of the structure of a cell of a coplanar plasma display panel that differs from the structure shown previously in FIGS. 1A and 1B in that the coplanar electrodes no longer extend over the entire width of the cells. Each electrode Y includes a continuous conductive bus Yb at the end-of-discharge edge 192 that traverses all the cells of any one row and, in each cell, an electrode element Yp in the form of a tongue centered on this cell, having a width smaller than this cell and extending from the bus as far as the initiation edge 191. The electrode elements Yp of each cell are sized in such a way that their lateral edges are positioned at a non-zero distance D from the surface of the closest column barrier ribs 15 that define this cell.
Such a structure applied to the coplanar electrodes Y, Y′ makes it possible to reduce the potential on the side walls of the column barrier ribs and on the surface portions of the protective layer that are close to these barriers along the lateral edges of the electrode elements Yp, as illustrated in FIG. 4, which shows the distribution of the electrical equipotential curves in the cell shown in FIG. 2, in a cross section on A2-A2′ in the mid-width of the cell, and of the same assumptions and conventions as for FIG. 3 described above. This FIG. 4 indicates that the first negative equipotential curve, shown in broken lines, meets the V-shaped column barrier rib at the top of this rib, at the interface with the protective layer and the dielectric layer 13.
It follows from these dielectric properties, illustrated by the equipotential curves, that there is better confinement of the sustain discharges away from the column barrier ribs at the start of expansion in the panels described in document EP 0 782 167 or, with reference to FIG. 2, relative to the panels described previously with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. Thus, the luminous efficiency and the lifetime are improved.
However, at the end of expansion of the discharges, that is to say at the buses Yb of the coplanar electrodes, the same problem as previously is encountered since the electrodes extend at this point over the entire width of the cells. The potential along the barrier rib surface and the surface of the protective layer remains high near the electrode portions Yb corresponding to the buses. The improvement in luminous efficiency and in lifetime therefore remains limited.
Furthermore, such a structure having electrode elements is more difficult to produce than that of FIGS. 1A and 1B and requires an expensive operation of horizontal alignment of the plates 11 and 12 so that the electrode elements specific to each cell are perfectly centered on each cell and equidistant from two adjacent column barrier ribs.

Plasma display panel having coplanar electrodes with constant width


A system and method for setting the World Wide Node Names (WWNNs) of a plurality of ports in a data storage system. In one embodiment, a method includes the operations of receiving a first request that is to set a plurality of WWNNs of a plurality of ports of the storage system, automatically generating a first WWNN in response to receiving the first request, and assigning the automatically generated first WWNN to a first port of the plurality so that the at least one SCSI device is visible over a Fiber Channel (FC) network as a target for SCSI requests at the first port assigned the first WWNN.

Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to data storage systems. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to data communicated across a Fibre Channel network.
Background Information
In modern computer systems, a file system stores and organizes computer files to enable a user to efficiently locate and access requested files. File systems can utilize a storage device such as a hard disk drive to provide local access or provide access to data stored on a remote file server. A file system can also be characterized as a set of abstract data types that are implemented for the storage, hierarchical organization, manipulation, navigation, access, and retrieval of data. The file system software is responsible for organizing files and directories.
Many companies and individuals with large amounts of stored data employ a file system as a data storage system. These data storage systems can be located local to the data to be backed up or at a remote site. The data storage systems can be managed by the entity controlling the data storage devices or a data storage service company. Data can be added to the storage system at any frequency and at any amount.
Data storage systems may offer storage for backup and disaster recovery. Transfer to remote storage may require the transfer of data over a network. One network that allows transferring data across a data storage system is a Fibre Channel (FC) network. Fibre Channel allows a server and/or a storage unit to be located at a substantial distance from other components of the data storage system if optical fiber is used as the physical medium. However, optical fiber is not required for shorter distances, as a Fibre Channel network may also be implemented using coaxial cable and ordinary telephone twisted pair.
A storage area network (SAN) that communicatively couples independent systems in a data storage system can be implemented with Fibre Channel networking. Independent systems in an FC SAN network are colloquially known as "nodes," which can be a client, a server, or a system that operates as both a client and a server.
In a typical distributed architecture, a node is communicatively coupled to a network with a host bus adapter (HBA). In an FC SAN network, the HBA of a node can be addressable through a World Wide Name (WWN). A WWN of an HBA can be, for example, a World Wide Node Name (WWNN), a World Wide Port Name (WWPN), or some combination thereof. A WWNN can identify a node in an FC SAN network and can be seen on many different ports of the node to identify the ports of the node as multiple network interfaces of that one node. In one example of an FC SAN network, a first node (e.g., a client) acts as a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) initiator that issues SCSI requests to a SCSI target at a second node (e.g., a server) over an FC SAN network by addressing the second node using at least a WWNN assigned to one or more ports of an HBA at the second node.

Technique for setting WWNN scope for multi-port fibre channel SCSI target deduplication appliances