An automatic centrifugal force variable pitch propeller assembly includes a plurality of propeller blades mounted within a housing, each of the propeller blades being mounted to permit limited radial travel in its entirety and simultaneous incremental rotation about its longitudinal axis, the limited radial travel of each of the propeller blades in its entirety being caused by a centrifugal force developed by rotation of the propeller assembly and extending between an inward position corresponding to rotation of the propeller assembly at an idle speed and outward position corresponding to rotation at a maximum speed. The propeller assembly includes a pitch change mechanism that is coupled to the shaft end of each of the propeller blades and is solely responsive to radial travel of each of the propeller blades, caused by the centrifugal forces developed by rotation of the propeller assembly, for causing an identical predetermined incremental rotation of each of the propeller blades about its longitudinal axis that is a nonlinear function of the radial travel of each of the propeller blades. The propeller assembly also includes a rigid mechanical interconnection between the shaft ends of each of the propeller blades to insure that the propeller blades travel radially in their entirety in concert with each other to provide fail safe operation of the propeller assembly.

This invention relates generally to propellers, vanes, impellers, and paddles of the type typically employed on aircraft, ships, wind-powered electric generators, windmills, turbine engines, etc. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a mechanism for automatically changing the pitch of blades utilized in such propellers and similar types of devices.
It is generally advantageous to provide the capability of varying the pitch or angle of attack of aircraft propeller blades, for example, in order to accommodate different flight conditions. Propellers whose pitch angle may be varied in flight are known as constant speed propellers. Various mechanisms are known for varying the pitch angles of propellers and other types of blades while they are rotating about a central shaft. Most of these mechanisms are a maze of gears and governors electrically or hydraulically actuated and represent effective, but expensive, ways in which pilots may regulate the pitch of propellers during flight.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,482,690 to Lanzius is directed to a propeller in which an axially movable collar causes each blade shank to rotate as it engages a slot in the shank. Centrifugal weights are located at 90 degrees to the propeller blades. The propeller blades do not extend or retract due to centrifugal force, and their rotation is fixed by a helical groove in the propeller shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,631 to Barnes is directed to a windmill speed limiting system in which only the blade tips, rather than the entire blade, are adapted to extend during operation. As the blade tips extend, their pitch angle changes in accordance with a slotted cam in a bushing.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,126,202 to McColly is directed to a governor for windmills that utilizes a helix in a slide guide to allow the windmill blade to change pitch to limit the windmill RPM.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,510,216 to Figley is directed to an apparatus for controlling the pitch angle of aircraft propellers manually from the cockpit by means of a cable and pulley arrangement. The cable and pulley regulate radial movement of an extendable shaft within a hollow propeller. A pin following a helical groove in the extendable shaft varies the pitch of the propeller as the pilot operates the cable and pulley derangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,108 to Will is directed to a windmill in which centrifugal force is used to feather the rotors to control rotor speed. The windmill rotors do no extend or retract, but are mounted at a predetermined compound angle to the hub and are not in direct alignment with the center of the hub. As wind speed increase, the offset arrangement of the rotors and centrifugal force causes a reduction in the pitch angle of the rotors to thereby produce a braking effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,937 to Hiebert, deceased et al. is directed to an adjustable pitch propeller drive in which pitch changes are effected by a rack and pinion arrangement controlled by a hydraulic cylinder.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,415,421 to De Filippis is directed to an adjustable propeller that employs a helical cut-out or slot in a hollow stem of each blade and a camming pin in engagement with the helical slot to impart radial motion to the blades, as well as corresponding pitch angle changes.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,953,682 to Kelm is directed to an automatic variable pitch propeller in which a shifting pin follows a helical or cam slot in a guide tube to effect pitch changes corresponding to radial motion of the propeller blades caused by centrifugal force developed by the rotating propeller.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,282,077 to Moore is directed to variable pitch propeller in which blade turning pins or studs seated in the propeller shanks follow arcuate cam slots in hub sleeves to effect pitch changes corresponding to radial motion of the propeller blades caused by centrifugal force developed by the rotating propeller.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,264,568 to Hamilton is directed to mechanism for automatically feathering the blades of a model airplane propeller when the engine stops. A cross pin follows spiral slots in a bushing to effect pitch changes corresponding to radial motion of the propeller blades caused by centrifugal force developed by the rotating propeller.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,457,576 to Littrell is directed to a variable pitch propeller that is controlled manually from the cockpit by means of an electric motor controlling a ring gear turning a pinion to move a nut inwardly or outwardly in a spiral groove.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,108,245 and 2,120,168 to Ash, Jr. are directed to helicopter rotors employing telescoping airfoil sections controlled from the cockpit by means of coil springs and wound cables.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,005,343 to Kent is directed to a variable propeller in which set screws project through a hub block into communication with each end of an arcuate slot to thereby adjustably limit the range of pitch variation of the propeller.
Those of the above prior art references that describe systems for automatically varying the pitch of propeller blades by centrifugal force that is developed by the rotating propeller all employ elements containing either a slot or a groove that is strictly linear, arcuate or helical in shape. This results in a linear relationship between propeller speed and propeller pitch, which is undesirable from an operational standpoint.
It would be advantageous to provide different rates of change of propeller pitch as a function of propeller speed or RPM to accommodate different ground or flight operations. For example, over a range of propeller speeds at which taxi operations may occur, it may be desirable to maintain the same or nearly the same propeller pitch. It may then be desirable to provide a greater rate of change of propeller pitch when increasing the propeller speed to a range suitable for flight climb conditions and to maintain a particular propeller pitch nearly constant over the range of propeller speeds suitable for cruise conditions.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an automatic centrifugal force variable pitch propeller in which the relationship between propeller speed and propeller pitch is nonlinear; that is, the rate of change of propeller pitch is not constant with changes in propeller speed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic variable pitch propeller in which the individual propeller blades are mechanically linked to insure that inward and outward travel of the blades is in concert.
These and other objects are accomplished in accordance with one illustrated embodiment of the present invention by providing at least a pair of propeller blades mounted within a housing, each of the propeller blades being arranged for inward and outward axial travel and simultaneous incremental rotation about its longitudinal axis, a pair of mirror image cam/guide plates fixedly mounted within the housing adjacent a shaft end of each of the propeller blades, each of the mirror image cam/guide plates having a nonlinear, discontinuous configuration, and a pin follower transversely extending from the shaft end of each of the propeller blades and being positioned for engagement with the nonlinear, discontinuous configuration in each of the mirror image cam/guide plates, whereby an increase in the speed at which the propeller blades turn produces an increase in centrifugal force causing outward travel of the propeller blades and incremental rotation of each of the blades about its longitudinal axis corresponding to movement of each of the pin followers in the associated pair of mirror image cam/guide plates. In another illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a slotted cylinder fixedly positioned over the shaft end of each of the propeller blades is employed in place of the mirror image cam/guide plates.

Automatic centrifugal force variable pitch propeller


The invention concerns a process for manufacturing inert, catalytic or gas-sensitve ceramic layers for gas sensors which comprises coating an uncoated insulative substrate with a layer of paste composed of a powdered semiconductor material of SrTiO.sub.3 and an organic paste material having a thickness of 1 to 100 um and then subjecting the coated substrate to a three phase thermal treatment.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of producing inert, catalytically active or gas sensitive ceramic layers for gas sensors, particularly for potentiometric or resistive gas sensors, preferably with a volume effect, such ceramic layers being produced from a paste composed of a powdered basic ceramic material and an organic basic material for the paste.
2. Technology Review
The concentration of gases, particularly the concentration of oxygen and reducing gases, is measured to an increasing degree by means of suitable sensors. Perovskite, particularly mixed titanium oxides, among others, have been employed as semiconductors for such sensors. In dependence on the partial pressure of the gases to be measured and the sensor temperature, these semiconductors exhibit a great change in electrical resistance. If the temperature is known or is compensated, it is possible to utilize the measurement of the semiconductor resistance to determine the partial pressure of these gases to be measured.
Such sensors can be miniaturized and are extremely resistant to external influences because of the chemical stability and mechanical hardness of the semiconductor ceramics active in the measurements and are therefore almost ideally suited for measuring tasks in difficultly accessible, rough environments.
A particular requirement for gas sensors has developed in the automobile industry because, for reasons of environmental protection, it is necessary to set the fuel/air mixture in every driving state as accurately as possible. However, in this connection the requirements to be met by the sensors are especially high; particularly for use in high revolution internal-combustion engines involving up to 6000 rpm the response time of the sensors must be extremely short.
Semiconductors for gas sensors are presently produced by three different methods:
1. in a thin-film process; PA0 2. by sintering of ceramic pellets; PA0 3. by manually applying the paste with the aid of a brush.
The production of semiconductors for gas sensors in a thin-film process by way of reactive high frequency sputtering is disclosed, for example, in European Patent No. 0,131,731.
This method makes it possible to produce extremely thin gas sensors having a very small surface area.
Sensors produced according to this method exhibit a very "fast" response behavior, i.e. the change in resistance takes place with a very short time delay compared to the change in concentration of the gas being measured.
However, this manufacturing method is very complicated and thus expensive because it must be performed in a high vacuum and because the sputtered-on mixed oxide layers must be subjected to further treatment.
Due to the short free path lengths of the particles to be applied during sputtering and the resulting collision processes, no exact geometric structures can be produced even if templates are employed.
Moreover, doping the semiconductors in order to optimize their characteristics is possible only very conditionally since the number of elements that can be applied simultaneously by sputtering is limited. For these reasons, the thin-film technology is acceptable only in very specific fields.
Many sensors are therefore produced as ceramics by way of sintering. Such sintered sensors are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,044,601, 3,953,173 and 4,454,494.
The thickness of the sintered ceramic layer is at least 20 .mu.m, usually, however, 500 .mu.m. The speed of response of such sensors is noticeably poorer compared to those produced in a thin-film process (sputtering) because the time required to respond to changes in the concentration of the gas being measured is proportional to the square of the layer thickness and therefore increases considerably with increasing layer thickness.
DE-OS 3,024,449 discloses that semiconductors for gas sensors can be produced by manually applying a paste containing the semiconductor material. The layers are then more than 20 .mu.m thick. The method is difficult to reproduce, requires subsequent treatment and is not suitable for the mass production of gas sensors.
For measuring technology reasons it may be of advantage to coat the gas sensitive semiconductor layer with a chemically inert, not gas sensitive intermediate layer and a catalytically active layer thereabove.

Manufacture of inert, catalytic or gas-sensitive ceramic layers for gas sensors

ROTH-Tecknik GmbH & Co. Forschung fur Automobil und Umwelttechnik


A wireless data communication system using a microphone/headphone jack of a portable phone. The system may be constructed with a computer modem; a microphone jack and a headphone jack of a portable computer; a portable phone having said microphone/headphone jack; and an interface module which transmits signals by electrically connecting said computer modem and said microphone/headphone jack of said portable phone. A dedicated cable for interfacing the modem and the portable phone is unnecessary, a private protocol for wireless communication is unnecessary, and the private protocol does not need to be previously written into a random access memory when the data of the portable computer is transmitted/received by wireless using the portable phone. The interface module circuit between the computer modem and the portable phone is simplified, by using less cables, and an existing jack may be used for coupling the modem and the portable telephone.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless data communication systems using a portable telephone, and, more particularly, to wireless data communication systems enabling communication of computer data by connecting the modem of the computer with a portable telephone via a microphone and headphone jack through an interface unit.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, conventional wireless data communication systems are configured to use a portable phone with a private connector for wireless data communication from a modem mounted in a portable computer. A cable electrically connects the portable telephone and the modem. In conventional wireless data communication systems, specially made connectors are mounted in the modem and the portable phone in order to transmit and receive data via the portable telephone.
Examplars of wireless data communication systems endeavoring to connect a microprocessor to obtain data communication via a wireless handset are found in those circuit configurations for the Multi Frequency Eddy Current Test Apparatus With Intermediate Frequency Processing of T. J. Davis, et alii, U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,281; and in the Microprocessor Controller Interface For Cellular System of A. L. Serrano, et alii, U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,080, as well as the Cordless Phone Data Logger of Wm. G. Haggar, III, et alii, U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,686; the Portable Hybrid Communication System And Method of H. M. O'Sullivan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,457; and the Personal Communications Service Using Wireline/Wireless Integration of Mark J. Emery, et alii.
I have found that designs such as these provided by contemporary art tend to rely upon dedicated electrical connectors mounted in the portable phone and the modem that require an excessive number of cables to electrically couple the portable phone and the modem. In addition, a private protocol for wireless communication is needed, and the private protocol needs to be either previously installed or stored in a random access memory prior to use.

Wireless data communication system using a microphone/headphone jack of a portable phone


A telescoping sub (50) for mining operations and the like. The telescoping sub (50) includes a rotor (94) portion coupleadle to the rotary head of a drilling rig, and a stator (74) portion that is coupleable to a drill rod. The rotor (94) portion is slideadly coupled to the stator (74) portion and is moveable with respect thereto between an extended position and a retracted position. With the telescoping sub (50) in the retracted position, the drilling rig is operated to drill to a first depth. The drilling rig is then operated to move the rotor (94) portion to the extended position, and the drilling rig is operated to drill to a second depth that is greater than the first depth.

Known drilling machines include a frame supported for movement over the ground, and a tower mounted on the frame for movement between a generally horizontal stowed position, and a vertical or angled operating position. A deck is supported by the frame and has a generally horizontal upper surface with an opening through which a drill rod is extendable. A rotary head is movable along the tower and engageable with the drill rod to move the drill rod vertically and to rotate the drill rod.
The rotary head urges the drill rod downwardly to penetrate the ground and to create a drilled hole. Known drilling machines are capable of drilling to depths greater than the height of the tower by connecting multiple drill rods together to create a drill string that is longer than the height of the tower. This is accomplished by drilling a first drill rod into the ground until the rotary head is completely lowered. Next, the rotary head is disconnected from first drill rod and raised to the top of the tower such that a second, upper drill rod can be connected to the rotary head. The second drill rod is then threaded to the first, lower drill rod, and the second drill rod can then be drilled into the ground. Additional drill rods can be added to the drill string in a similar manner until the hole is drilled to the desired depth.
With known drilling methods, the drilling depth that is reachable without requiring the use of multiple drill rods is generally limited by the height of the tower. That is, a single drill rod can only be drilled to a depth corresponding to the distance that is traveled by the rotary head in moving from the top of the tower to the bottom of the tower. If a hole having a depth greater than the travel distance of the rotary head is required, additional drill rods must be utilized. The process of coupling and decoupling multiple drill rods to one another in order to drill to a desired depth adds significant time, cost, and complication to a drilling operation. Furthermore, known methods of coupling and decoupling drill rods, including impact breakout systems and non-impact breakout systems, are often inconsistent and can damage the drill rods and the drilling machine.


Disclosed are detecting apparatus for detecting statuses of an optical disc and methods thereof, which can avoid or reduce erroneous status decisions at the edge of a blank region. The detecting apparatus includes a blank detector, for detecting a blank region of the optical disc to generate a blank detection signal; an edge detector, for detecting a transition of the blank detection signal to generate an edge detection signal; a control circuit, in response to the edge detection signal for outputting control signals; and a defect detector in response to the control signals for detecting defect region of the optical disc to generate a defect decision signal.

The invention relates to an optical disc drive system, and more particularly, to a detecting apparatus for detecting statuses of an optical disc and a method thereof.
When an optical disc drive system reads data from an optical disc, it first detects the status of a sector presently accessed by an optical pick-up head to determine whether the sector contains data or not. The status of a sector could be blank, not blank, or defect. Only if the sector contains data, i.e. not blank, the system will retrieve data from the optical disc. The system determines the sector as a non-blank sector when it detects a radio frequency (RF) signal with larger amplitude, determines the sector as a blank sector when it detects the RF signal with smaller amplitude, or determines the sector as a defect sector when it detects the RF signal with a low direct current (DC) level. However, a wrong decision as to the status of a sector is easily made at the transition between a blank region and a data region (i.e. the non-blank region) of the optical disc. This is due to the reflectivity variation between the blank region and the data region. The reflectivity of the blank region for a first kind of optical discs (such as CD, DVD discs) is usually higher than that of the data region. Therefore, a large DC value variation of the RF signal will be detected by the system when the optical pick-up head moves from the blank region to the data region, thereby mistaking the data region for the defect region. For a second kind of optical discs (such as low-to-high Blu-ray discs), the reflectivity of the data region may usually be higher than that of the blank region. Therefore, a large DC value variation of the RF signal will be detected by the system when the optical pick-up head moves from the data region to the blank region, thereby mistaking the blank region for the defect region. Moreover, because the RF signal is influenced in the defect region, the amplitudes of the RF signal in the defect region will sometimes be small. In this situation, the system may mistake a defect region for a blank region. It is obvious that if the above situations cannot be avoided or alleviated, the accuracy of the data read by the system and even the stability of the system will be seriously degraded.

Detecting apparatus for detecting statuses of optical disc and method thereof


A knuckle-swivel (10) is used with well drilling equipment for protecting helical wound line 62, which may be wire rope, cable and/or strand, against torsional forces and also providing for angular displacement of sinker bars or other tools during wireline strip over operations to minimize interference with rig equipment (80) when pulling pipe or tools 64 from a well head.

Many conventional drilling rigs use a top-drive for pulling pipe and/or tools from a well bore. Powerful motors are used to pull and wind wire rope, cable or strand about a drum located above the derrick floor. Swivels are used in-line with helical wound members such as rope, cable or strand for allowing rotation about a longitudinal axis thereof under tension for minimizing or avoiding straightening of the helical windings in order to protect the strength and integrity of the rope, cable or strand by compensating for the torsional force induced by large axial forces on the helical member. Typical forces can be on the order of several tons, or more.
In one typical operation referred to as a "wireline strip over operation", a sinker bar is used in-line with the wire rope. Sinker bars have in the past been comprised of a rigid member which may be in the form of a solid bar on the order of 15 to 20 feet in length. Use of such a sinker bar with a top drive creates interference between the sinker bar and rig equipment located vertically above the drill pipe; heretofore, it has been necessary to move and relocate the top drive unit out of the way. This is a time consuming operation that is best to be avoided.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


It has been demonstrated that debris generation within an electric capillary discharge source, for generating extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray, is dependent on the magnitude and profile of the electric field that is established along the surfaces of the electrodes. An electrode shape that results in uniform electric field strength along its surface has been developed to minimize sputtering and debris generation. The electric discharge plasma source includes: (a) a body that defines a circular capillary bore that has a proximal end and a distal end; (b) a back electrode positioned around and adjacent to the distal end of the capillary bore wherein the back electrode has a channel that is in communication with the distal end and that is defined by a non-uniform inner surface which exhibits a first region which is convex, a second region which is concave, and a third region which is convex wherein the regions are viewed outwardly from the inner surface of the channel that is adjacent the distal end of the capillary bore so that the first region is closest to the distal end; (c) a front electrode positioned around and adjacent to the proximal end of the capillary bore wherein the front electrode has an opening that is communication with the proximal end and that is defined by a non-uniform inner surface which exhibits a first region which is convex, a second region which is substantially linear, and third region which is convex wherein the regions are viewed outwardly from the inner surface of the opening that is adjacent the proximal end of the capillary bore so that the first region is closest to the proximal end; and (d) a source of electric potential that is connected across the front and back electrodes.

This invention relates generally to the production of extreme ultraviolet and soft x-rays with an electric discharge source for projection lithography.
The present state-of-the-art for Very Large Scale Integration (xe2x80x9cVLSIxe2x80x9d) involves chips with circuitry built to design rules of 0.25 xcexcm. Effort directed to further miniaturization takes the initial form of more fully utilizing the resolution capability of presently-used ultraviolet (xe2x80x9cUVxe2x80x9d) delineating radiation. xe2x80x9cDeep UVxe2x80x9d (wavelength range of xcex=0.3 xcexcm to 0.1 xcexcm), with techniques such as phase masking, off-axis illumination, and step-and-repeat may permit design rules (minimum feature or space dimension) of 0.18 xcexcm or slightly smaller.
To achieve still smaller design rules, a different form of delineating radiation is required to avoid wavelength-related resolution limits. One research path is to utilize electron or other charged-particle radiation. Use of electromagnetic radiation for this purpose will require x-ray wavelengths. Various x-ray radiation sources are under consideration. One source, the electron storage ring synchrotron, has been used for many years and is at an advanced stage of development. Synchrotrons are particularly promising sources of x-rays for lithography because they provide very stable and defined sources of x-rays, however, synchrotrons are massive and expensive to construct. They are cost effective only when serving several steppers.
Another source is the laser plasma source (LPS), which depends upon a high power, pulsed laser (e.g., a yttrium aluminum garnet (xe2x80x9cYAGxe2x80x9d) laser), or an excimer laser, delivering 500 to 1,000 watts of power to a 50 xcexcm to 250 xcexcm spot, thereby heating a source material to, for example, 250,000xc2x0 C., to emit x-ray radiation from the resulting plasma. LPS is compact, and may be dedicated to a single production line (so that malfunction does not close down the entire plant). The plasma is produced by a high-power, pulsed laser that is focused on a metal surface or in a gas jet. (See, Kubiak et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,092 for a LPS design.)
Discharge plasma sources have been proposed for photolithography. Capillary discharge sources have the potential advantages that they can be simpler in design than both synchrotrons and LPS""s, and that they are far more cost effective. Klosner et al., xe2x80x9cIntense plasma discharge source at 13.5 nm for extreme-ultraviolet lithography,xe2x80x9d Opt. Lett. 22, 34 (1997), reported an intense lithium discharge plasma source created within a lithium hydride (LiH) capillary in which doubly ionized lithium is the radiating species. The source generated narrow-band EUV emission at 13.5 nm from the 2-1 transition in the hydrogen-like lithium ions. However, the source suffered from a short lifetime (approximately 25-50 shots) owing to breakage of the LiH capillary.
Another source is the pulsed capillary discharge source described in Silfvast, U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,282, which promised to be significantly less expensive and far more efficient than the laser plasma source. However, the discharge source also ejects debris that is eroded from the capillary bore and electrodes. An improved version of the capillary discharge source covering operating conditions for the pulsed capillary discharge lamp that purportedly mitigated against capillary bore erosion is described in Silfvast, U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,241.
Debris generation remains one of the most significant impediment to the successful development of the capillary plasma discharge sources in photolithography. Ultimately, this will reduce their efficiency to a point where they must to be replaced more often than is economically feasible. The art is in search of capillary plasma discharge sources that do not generate significant amounts of debris.
The present invention is based in part on the demonstration that debris generation within the electric capillary discharge source is dependent on the magnitude and profile of the electric field that is established along the surfaces of the electrodes. An electrode shape that results in uniform electric field strength along its surface will minimize sputtering and debris generation. Electrostatic models have been developed to predict the electric field between the electrodes. These models were applied to optimize the shape of the electrodes. An iterative approach was used in the optimization process. The predicted electric field strength profiles along the surface of the optimized electrodes show a lower peak value and improved uniformity over the initial electrode designs.
Accordingly, in one embodiment the invention is directed to an extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray radiation electric discharge plasma source that includes:
(a) a body that defines a circular capillary bore that has a proximal end and a distal end;
(b) a back electrode positioned around and adjacent to the distal end of the capillary bore wherein the back electrode has a channel that is in communication with the distal end and that is defined by a non-uniform inner surface which exhibits a first region which is convex, a second region which is concave, and a third region which is convex wherein the regions are viewed outwardly from the inner surface of the channel that is adjacent the distal end of the capillary bore so that the first region is closest to the distal end;
(c) a front electrode positioned around and adjacent to the proximal end of the capillary bore wherein the front electrode has an opening that is communication with the proximal end and that is defined by a non-uniform inner surface which exhibits a first region which is convex, a second region which is substantially linear, and third region which is convex wherein the regions are viewed outwardly from the inner surface of the opening that is adjacent the proximal end of the capillary bore so that the first region is closest to the proximal end; and
(d) a source of electric potential that is connected across the front and back electrodes.
In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a method of producing extreme ultra-violet and soft x-ray radiation that includes the steps of:
(a) providing an electric discharge plasma source that comprises:
(i) a body that defines a circular capillary bore that has a proximal end and a distal end;
(ii) a back electrode positioned around and adjacent to the distal end of the capillary bore wherein the back electrode has a channel that is in communication with the distal end and that is defined by a non-uniform inner surface which exhibits a first region which is convex, a second region which is concave, and a third region which is convex wherein the regions are viewed outwardly from the inner surface of the channel that is adjacent the distal end of the capillary bore so that the first region is closest to the distal end;
(iii) a front electrode positioned around and adjacent to the proximal end of the capillary bore wherein the front electrode has an opening that is communication with the proximal end and that is defined by a non-uniform inner surface which exhibits a first region which is convex, a second region which is substantially linear, and third region which is convex wherein the regions are viewed outwardly from the inner surface of the opening that is adjacent the proximal end of the capillary bore so that the first region is closest to the proximal end; and
(iv) a source of electric potential that is connected across the front and back electrodes; and
(v) a housing that defines a vacuum chamber that is in communication with the opening of the front electrode;
(b) introducing gas from a source of gas into the channel of the back electrode and into the capillary bore; and
(c) causing an electric discharge in the capillary bore sufficient to create a plasma within the capillary bore thereby producing radiation of a selected wavelength less than about 1xc3x9710xe2x88x923 Torr.
An important feature of the invention is with the design of the front and back electrodes, the source of electric potential establishes substantially uniform first electric fields along the inner surface of the front electrode and substantially uniform second electric fields along the inner surface of the back electrode.

Electrode configuration for extreme-UV electrical discharge source


Digital product dissemination and sale occurs across a broad spectrum of distribution platforms making available a packaged digital product for wide spread public distribution. Execution of a packaged digital product on a purchasing consumer's personal computer provides opportunity to the user-consumer for purchase and delivery of the digital product. The user-consumer triggers a purchase step conducted automatically and directly between the personal computer and a bank network. A publishing merchant need not be involved in the purchase step other than receiving credit for the purchase in the credit card bank network. Delivery of the digital product following purchase occurs automatically and without use of cumbersome encryption keys.

The present invention relates generally to product dissemination, and particularly to distribution and sale of digital content products.
Publishers of digital content, e.g., computer software or image data, disseminate products to consumers in traditional fashion by packaging, shipping, and making available their products in retail outlets. A consumer goes to the retail outlet, selects a product for purchase, and interacts with a sales clerk to purchase the product. The consumer purchases the product by a variety of methods, e.g., cash, check, or credit card. The consumer must, however, visit the retail outlet during its business hours.
Some digital content distribution schemes allow free distribution of the digital product, e.g., by copying, or free distribution via telephone connection with a host computer. The consumer uses the product and, if willing, sends payment to the product source. Alternatively, a bulletin board system, e.g., America On Line or Compuserve, may allow users download privileges and later bill for the of files downloaded.
Other distribution schemes require payment first to obtain access to digital products on a particular host computer. For example, a bulletin board system takes the user-consumer's credit card number and establishes a given amount of credit for that user-consumer on the bulletin board system. The user-consumer then uses these system-credits to purchase products, i.e., download files containing digital products.
The compact disc read only memory (CD ROM), with its dense and massive storage capability, holds many digital products. Further, with data compression a single CD ROM holds a significant number of digital products. Encryption restricts unauthorized use of the digital products. The CD ROMs are distributed freely with a user-interactive program thereon allowing access to, i.e., trial use or purchase of, selected digital products. A recipient of the CD ROM executes the user-interactive program to sample, e.g., execute a limited number of times, the digital products. The recipient must purchase and receive delivery of the digital product, however, by voice interaction with an outside operator and by interaction with the user-interactive program.
The payment step occurs generally outside the user-interactive program. To pay for the selected product, the user-consumer calls an operator and identifies the product selected for purchase. The operator then receives verbally from the user-consumer a credit card number. This interaction likely requires the operator to read back the credit card number to confirm accuracy. The operator then interacts with the credit card bank, or banking network, to verify the credit card number and debit the user-consumer's credit card account for the purchase price of the selected digital product.
The operator then again interacts with the user-consumer and provides a "key" for unlocking the selected digital product, i.e., allowing a useable copy of the product to be taken from the CD ROM. The key, typically a long sequence of alpha-numeric characters, must be read verbally to the user-consumer and copied by the user-consumer. The user-consumer reads back to the operator the key again to verify accuracy. Human error and frustration make this portion of the purchase step undesirable for its lack of automation and undue complexity. In any event, the payment step gives to the user-consumer a key to unlock a particular digital product stored on his or her CD ROM.
The user-interactive program requires the user-consumer to manually enter the unlock key. If the correct key is entered, the user-interactive program delivers the product to the consumer, e.g., by decryption (unlocking) and/or de-compression, and copying a working or usable version of the digital product from the CD ROM onto the user-consumer's computing device.
FIG. 1A illustrates by data flow diagram use of the prior art CD ROM platform for digital product dissemination. In FIG. 1A, CD ROM 10 comes into possession of the user-consumer 14, e.g., by direct mail. The user-consumer inserts CD ROM 10 into personal computer (PC) 12. Computer 12 loads from CD ROM 10 and executes a user-interactive program 15 providing information and demonstration programs for a collection of digital products available on CD ROM 10. Once user-consumer 14 selects a digital product for purchase, the consumer initiates a voice telephone call to an operator 18. In the voice telephone call, user-consumer 14 provides to operator 18 a product identification 16, i.e., the product selected for purchase, and credit card data 17. Phone operator 18 then submits by batch processing the credit card data 17 and a credit/debit request 19 to a credit card bank 20. Credit card bank 20 then returns to operator 18 a transaction confirmation 21.
Submission of credit card data 17 and request 19 to bank 20 and return of confirmation 21 can occur by batch processing, i.e., not a real-time transaction. Accordingly, operator 18 does not typically have from credit card bank 20 immediate authorization to purchase. The overall interaction between operator 18 and user-consumer 14 is a tedious and often frustrating transaction for the user-consumer 14. In any event, operator 18 eventually receives confirmation 21 from credit card bank 20 and provides by voice communication with user-consumer 14 an unlock key 22. User-consumer 14 copies the unlock key manually, e.g., writes it on a piece of paper, or enters key 22 directly into computer 100. When a valid unlock key 22 is entered, user-interactive program 15 responds by providing the purchased digital product 23, i.e., delivers a working copy of the selected digital product 23 by copying a useable, i.e., retail, version of the product onto the hard disk of PC 12.
The transaction conducted under the prior art CD ROM type of digital product dissemination requires on average 15 minutes, and sometimes days, to complete. In some cases, the merchant, as represented by phone operator 18, may immediately provide the unlock key 22 to user-consumer 14, taking a risk that the credit card bank 20 may ultimately fail to return confirmation 21. Even so, the transaction requires significant time to complete and, importantly, requires that the user-consumer 14 interact verbally with a telephone operator and make use of, i.e., obtain by voice communication and enter manually into computer 12, a complex unlock key needed to complete purchase of the digital product 23.
Unfortunately, consumers don't want to remember or use complex unlock keys, they just want to quickly and simply obtain the selected digital product with as little intermediate activity as possible. Consumer's typically don't appreciate having to interact with a telephone operator and wait for the operator to return the key. Such activity is believed to be a significant barrier to this type of product dissemination. Software publishers have experimented with this type of product dissemination, but the response rates, believed to be on the order of 0.2 to 0.6 percent and at best on the order of one percent, are unacceptably low.
The Internet, an organization of hundreds of interconnected hosts or servers and an addressing scheme supporting world-wide personal addressing and access to data available on the hosts or servers, holds great potential for global distribution of digital products. Generally, the model of digital product dissemination on the Internet provides an area holding useable, i.e., decrypted, digital products and restricts access or downloading privileges as a function of an approved credit card transaction. Security, however, becomes a concern when disseminating digital products on the Internet. Financial data, e.g., credit card numbers, are passed across the Internet, perhaps through several hundred servers, before reaching the intended destination. Thus, an individual's credit card information could be scattered throughout the Internet, with the potential for unauthorized use at many Internet sites. A variety of security measures have attempted to make more secure, e.g., encrypt, transmittal of financial data on the Internet. Even so, persons with sufficient knowledge of the data transfer protocol can monitor or intercept communications on the Internet.
A further concern arises under this model of digital product dissemination with respect to the decrypted material. Decrypted material is easer to corrupt, e.g. install virus programming, than encrypted material. Maintaining and transferring the digital products on the Internet, or any publicly available media, in an decrypted form exposes the material to theft or corruption. A corrupted digital product could cause significant damage to an unsuspecting user-consumer. Accordingly, the digital product publisher may be exposed to liability for its dissemination of a corrupted and damaging product.
FIG. 1B illustrates by data flow diagram the prior art use of the Internet for digital product dissemination. In FIG. 1B, user-consumer 34 sits at personal computer (PC) 32 and interacts via Internet 35 with a merchant server 42. Such interaction includes opportunity for the user-consumer 14 to browse lists of digital products available for purchase at merchant server 42. Once the user-consumer 14 selects a digital product for purchase, credit card data 44, entered manually at PC 32, travels, via Internet 35, to merchant server 42. Merchant server 42 then forwards the credit card data and a credit/debit request 45 to credit card server 46. After validating the credit card information 44, e.g., by batch processing, credit card server 46 later returns a confirmation 48 to merchant server 42. Merchant server 42 then makes available the selected digital product 50 by downloading the decrypted product 50 to PC 32 via Internet 35. Important to note, all transactions illustrated in FIG. 1B occur over the public Internet 35. Accordingly, any such information exchanged, e.g., credit card information 44 and digital product 50, are susceptible to interception, corruption, theft or misuse.
While credit card numbers provide a prompt and popular method of payment, the user-consumer must protect his or her credit card data against unauthorized use. Enhanced security for credit card data establishes enhanced consumer confidence, and therefore greater consumer appeal. Unfortunately, providing credit card data to a computer bulletin board, a telephone operator, or to any merchant introduces security risks. A significant percentage of credit card fraud is by the merchant or merchant's employees. Whenever credit card data travels directly or indirectly to the merchant via a computer network, e.g., along the Internet, a variety of opportunities exist for intercepting the credit card data. Thus, while providing credit card data directly to a merchant enhances purchase automation, it compromises credit card data security.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a more automated and generalized purchase and delivery system for digital products. A variety of competing goals must be satisfied. User-consumer accessibility must support broad dissemination across a number of storage and transfer platforms while remaining sufficiently generalized to permit wide-spread use. Purchase automation must make the transaction brief and simple to maintain ease of use while protecting the security of financial data, e.g., credit card data. Furthermore, it would be desirable to allow public distribution of digital products without risk of corruption when installed for use. The subject mater of the present invention addresses these and other aspects of digital product dissemination and sale.


An Inifiniband (IB) network that incorporates a Fibre Channel (FC) network is disclosed. The IB and FC networks are coupled by a gateway that maps the FC network to a virtual IB network. In generating the virtual IB network, the gateway may provide a virtual IB target for each node port in the FC network, and may further provide a minimum number of virtual IB switches necessary to support the virtual IB targets. The gateway assigns a globally unique identifier (GUID) to each of the virtual IB targets, and may further associate local identifiers (LID) with the virtual IB targets. The gateway preferably emulates subnet management agents (SMA) and general service agents (GSA) of the virtual IB targets when management IB packets are received, and the gateway preferably converts non-management IB packets directed to the virtual IB targets into FC frames directed to the corresponding target FC devices.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to systems and methods for implementing storage area networks. More specifically, this invention relates to a method and apparatus that enables seamless communication between an Infiniband network and one or more Fibre Channel networks by emulating the Fibre Channel network(s) as a subnet of the Infiniband network.
2. Description of Related Art
Internetworking of high-performance computers has become the focus of much attention in the data communications industry. Performance improvements in processors and peripherals, along with the move to distributed architectures such as client/server configurations, have spawned increasingly data-intensive and high-speed networking applications, such as medical imaging, multimedia, and scientific visualization. Various protocols have been developed to provide the necessary communications capacity.
A protocol known as Fibre Channel can carry data at rates exceeding 2 Gbps in both directions simultaneously. The Fibre Channel protocol defines standard media and signaling conventions for transporting data in a serial fashion. It also provides an error correcting channel code and a frame structure for transporting the data. Further, the Fibre Channel protocol sets out a buffer-credit-based flow control methodology, and creates some common services (e.g., fabric controller, directory server). The Fibre Channel protocol can be applied to various network topologies including point-to-point, ring, and switched fabric. Details regarding the Fibre Channel protocol can be found online at www.fibrechannel.org.
Another, newer, protocol known as Infiniband can carry data at rates exceeding 2.5 Gbps in each direction. The Infiniband architecture is designed around a point-to-point, switched I/O fabric, that connects end node devices. Much like the Fibre Channel protocol, the Infiniband protocol defines standard media and signaling conventions for transporting data in a serial fashion, provides error detection codes and a packet structure for transporting the data, and creates some standard services (e.g., subnet manager, subnet administrator). Details regarding the Infiniband protocol can be found online at www.infinibandta.org.
While Inifiniband possesses similarities to Fibre Channel (e.g., both rely on structured serial communications, both provide standardized fabric management services, both support higher-level protocols such as SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface), IP (Internet Protocol), and VDI (Virtual Device Interface), there are nevertheless many differences including different signaling protocols and different services. Both protocols may be employed to implement system area networks, and hence there exists a need for intercommunication between networks that use different protocols. For example, many customers would prefer to expand their existing networks with the latest technology and not have to start from scratch. Other customers just need low-latency communication between dissimilar networks. A method for integrating a Fibre Channel network into an Infiniband network is therefore highly desirable.

Method and apparatus for mapping between a fibre channel network and an infiniband network


A method for determining the location and orientation of a transmitter object by measuring a set of complex electromagnetic field magnitude and phase strengths within a space using one or more receivers is provided. The method includes modeling a set of expected complex electromagnetic strengths to estimated position and orientation of the transmitter object. And estimating parameters related to the transmitter object position based on the residual error between the measured set of complex electromagnetic field values and a set of expected electromagnetic field values. Further embodiments include a method as above including a plurality of receivers with known positions within a limited space including the transmitter object. A sensor network including a plurality of receivers to perform the above method is also provided. The receivers may communicate using a wireless channel.

1. Field of the Invention
Some embodiments of this invention relate to the field of precise location of concealed objects and linear utility conveyances, and, in particular, to precise positioning using a distributed sensor network.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Precise positioning, locating, and tracking of underground infrastructure is difficult under many circumstances, especially in dense urban environments, where buried or obscured pipes and other utilities are co-located in conduits within constrained rights-of-way. In those areas, active dipole transmitters, sometimes known as 'sondes,' may be used to track the path of an underground conduit, or the path of an underground directional drilling tool during the placement of new utility lines. Similarly, active signals are placed on linear utility conveyances (cables and pipes), to facilitate precise location of specific lines from a signal often distorted with similar signals from non-targeted lines.
Conventional precise location systems use a variety of methods to compute the position of a line or sonde-transmitter. Most often, the line is energized by a transmitter at a point away from the locate region of interest, where the line is accessible. In the case of a sonde, the device itself is a battery-operated active transmitter and is placed, towed, drilled, or pushed to the locate region of interest. A precise location receiver monitors the signal transmitted by the transmitter and derives an estimate of the offset, depth, and range to the targeted line or sonde.
Some precise location systems, known as real-time locating systems (RTLS) use ultra-wideband (UWB) technology if the entire system is aboveground and not significantly impacted by metal obstructions in the signal path. For UWB locating systems, short wavelength radio frequency (RF) pulses in the GHz range are used to measure time delay estimates from a transmitter source to each receiver, from which distance is determined using the known speed of propagation, i.e., the speed of light. Alternatively, path loss measurements from which distance can be inferred through a known exponential reduction in the omni-directional electric-field signal strength with distance, as long as the transmitter power is known. Lower frequency ranges are used for signal strength measurements, but poor accuracy results for situations when there are obstructions in the signal path between transmitter and receiver. WiFi-based RTLS are a typical example of signal strength-based aboveground locating systems that employ multiple distributed receivers. In either type of RTLS system, these measurements are used as input to a multi-lateration positioning algorithm to compute the location of the transmitter(s).
For underground and underwater precise location problems, the RF transmitter frequency must be constrained to less than 100 kHz to avoid high path loss. Since the detection range is from anywhere between a meter to a few tens of meters, sensors that detect magnetic fields are preferred, since at low frequencies the magnetic field can be closely controlled at the point of transmission by maintaining a fixed current flow through an underground linear conveyance, such as a cable or pipeline, or a point source, such as a dipole antenna. With a fixed current, the emitted AC magnetic field strength is stable and can be characterized by physical models. Point sources, like sonde transmitters, follow a dipole field model with 1/r3 decay with distance, while linear conveyances follow a cylindrical model with 1/r field strength decay with distance.
Therefore, there is a need for better, more precise, locating equipment.

Precise positioning using a distributed sensor network


A coiled-tubing system having a reel onto which steel tubing is wound in layered coils. A layon roller comprised of a compliant material is maintained in physical contact with the tubing on the reel to prevent premature unwinding of the tubing during operation. The roller is moved towards and away from the tubing to maintain the roller in contact with the tubing as it is payed out and reeled onto the reel. The system includes a level wind mechanism having a means therein for adjusting the tension in the tubing as it passes through the level wind mechanism.

"Coiled tubing" is now routinely used as a workstring in carrying out various operations in certain wellbores. As commonly used in the art, the term "coiled-tubing" or "reeled tubing" refers to a long, continuous length of a relatively small-diameter, thin-walled steel tubing which is wound onto and off of a large-diameter reel. The reel, in turn, can be mounted onto a trailer or the like so that it can be moved from site to site when needed. Once the reel is positioned at a work site (e.g. a wellhead), the continuous tubing is paid off the reel and down the well to carry out the desired operation (e.g. treating a formation, washing a liner, drilling a lateral wellbore, etc.). Upon completion of the operation, the coiled tubing is withdrawn and rewound onto the reel for reuse as needed.
In a typical, coiled-tubing application, the tubing is fed from the reel and through a relatively large-diameter guide arch to an injector head or the like which, in turn, grips the tubing and spools it on or off the reel while at the same time physically feeding it into or out of the wellbore. It is important to maintain the tubing in a proper arch between the reel and the injector head in order not to crimp or otherwise damage the tubing and to insure smooth feeding of the tubing. To do this, the tubing is usually passed over a large-diameter guide or a "gooseneck" which is positioned between the reel and the injector head to control the bending of the tubing.
Further, it is important to keep the coiled-tubing properly wound in layered coils on the reel during operation and prevent it from prematurely unwinding. That is, steel tubing resists coiling and will "unwind" if left unrestrained much in the same manner as does a tightly-wound mainspring of a watch. Therefore, if the coiled-tubing is not properly constrained on the reel, it is likely to prematurely "unwind" or "spring" the coils of tubing into disarray on the reel thereby causing damage and/or substantial delays while the tubing has to be untangled and rewound onto the reel. Most known coiled-tubing systems restrain the tubing on the reel and prevent it from prematurely "unwinding" by adjusting the tension of the tubing on the reel against the force from an injector while spooling the tubing or by a mechanical braking mechanism or the like during transit and/or non-use.

Coiled-tubing reel having a mechanical restraint


An inspecting device serves to inspect a solar cell. The inspecting device includes an irradiation part for irradiating with pulsed light and a detection part having a detector for detecting an electromagnetic wave pulse radiated from the solar cell depending on the irradiation with the pulsed light. The detector detects an electric field intensity of the electromagnetic wave pulse depending on irradiation with probe light emitted from a light source (a femtosecond laser) of the pulsed light. Moreover, the inspecting device includes a delay part for delaying a timing for detecting the electromagnetic wave pulse in the detector. Furthermore, the inspecting device includes an electromagnetic wave pulse analysis part for detecting a negative peak of the electric field intensity in a temporal waveform of the electromagnetic wave pulse.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for inspecting a photo device.
2. Description of the Background Art
A photo device utilizes photovoltaic effect, and a photodiode, an image sensor, a solar cell and the like are manufactured as products, for example.
For example, solar cells utilizing single crystal silicon and polycrystal silicon occupy a mainstream, and studies are being conducted in order to enhance power generation efficiency. Moreover, the image sensor is being studied in order to increase sensitivity, to enhance an S/N ratio and to reduce a price with a focus on the security field or the sensing field.
The photo device is an element utilizing photoexcited carriers (a free electron and a free hole) generated by irradiating a depletion layer of a PN junction body with light. By analyzing a situation in which the photoexcited carriers are generated in the depletion layer of the photo device, therefore, it is possible to analyze a characteristic of the photo device. In the photo device, particularly, it is possible to enhance a performance of the photo device by increasing an absorption rate of the photoexcited carrier toward an electrode side. For this reason, it is demanded to analyze a process for disappearance of the photoexcited carrier in the photo device.
As one of methods of inspecting the photo device, it is known to utilize a luminous phenomenon. Specifically, when a voltage is applied to the photo device, thereby causing current to flow in a forward direction, an electron and a hole are bonded to each other in a PN junction part so that light (electroluminescent light) is generated. It is known that a defect of the PN junction part of the photo device is examined by utilizing the phenomenon (for example, International Publication No. WO2006/059615).
Moreover, an optical beam induced current (OBIC) method is known as an inspecting technique utilizing light. Specifically, a semiconductor on which an LSI or the like is formed is irradiated with a laser beam, and a photoexcited carrier thus generated is measured as current (Akihiko Ooi, "Technology of the Microscopic Analysis for Semiconductor Devices", Fuji Jihou, Vol. 76, No. 3 (2003) pp. 197-200). The inspecting technique can also be applied to a photo device in addition to the semiconductor such as the LSI.
In the case of the inspecting method described in the Patent Literature 1, however, the electroluminescent light emitted from the photo device is feeble. For this reason, it is very hard to detect the process for disappearance of the photoexcited carrier in the depletion layer of the photo device.
Moreover, in the case of the inspecting method described in the Non-Patent Literature 1, a connection (wiring) for leading the photoexcited carrier generated in the depletion layer is required for measuring current. For this reason, it is necessary to cause a probe to come in contact with an electrode in the vicinity of the depletion layer in order to measure the photoexcited carrier with high precision. Accordingly, in the case in which the electrode is formed finely, it is hard to cause the probe to come in contact therewith. Moreover, in the case in which the probe is formed of a metal, the probe is caused to come in contact with the semiconductor so that there is a fear that the semiconductor might be damaged minutely or contaminated with a metal ion or the like. For this reason, there is demanded a technique for inspecting the photo device in non-contact as greatly as possible.


A method of fault event identification which comprises the steps of receiving a plurality of parameter measurements, performing single fault isolation to establish one of the plurality of parameter measurements as an event start, one of the plurality of parameter measurements as an event detect, and one of the parameter measurements as an event end wherein a latency period extends from the event start to the event detect and a blackout period extends from the event start to the event end, performing multiple fault isolation to establish a first trend line for the plurality of parameter measurements prior to the blackout period and after the blackout period, reprocessing the parameter measurements in the latency period, processing the parameter measurements in the blackout period, calculating a model IC from the reprocessed parameter measurements, calculating a plurality of single fault vectors, calculating an estimate for each of the single fault vectors, calculating a normalized error for each of said plurality of single fault vectors, calculating a polarized error term for each of the plurality of single fault vectors, and selecting the single fault vector with smallest of the calculated normalized errors.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for isolating and identifying temporal fault events. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of performing single fault isolation and detection in engine systems, and, if warranted, double fault isolation and detection.
(2) Description of Related Art
The goal of gas turbine performance diagnostics is to accurately detect, isolate and assess the changes in engine module performance, engine system malfunctions, and instrumentation problems from knowledge of measured parameters taken along the engine's gas path. Discernable shifts in engine speeds, temperatures, pressures, fuel flow, etc., provide the requisite information for determining the underlying shift in engine operation from a presumed reference (nominal) state. The aforementioned engine performance changes can manifest themselves in one of two categories: a) gradual (long-term) deterioration or b) rapid (short-term) deterioration.
Various techniques exist to detect the onset of short term, single fault conditions in a series of parameter measurements. Such short term anomalies are usually situated between periods of relative equilibrium during which long term degradation of engine or module components exhibit gradual deterioration. In addition, in rare instances, such short term anomalies are the result of double fault conditions involving the near simultaneous malfunctioning of two components. In order to accurately identify the cause of a single or double fault condition there is needed a method whereby measurement data recorded before, during, and after a fault condition is correctly identified as to its nature for use in subsequent fault identification. There is additionally needed a methodology whereby such measurement data may be analyzed to provide accurate identification of underlying fault conditions.

Methodology for temporal fault event isolation and identification


An air cycle machine (10) has four wheels mounted on a common shaft (20) for rotation therewith about a longitudinal axis (12), including a second stage turbine rotor (30) mounted to a first end (20a) of the shaft, a fan rotor (40) mounted to a second end (20b) of the shaft, a first stage turbine rotor (50) mounted to a central portion (20c) of the shaft, a compressor rotor (60) mounted to the central portion of the shaft in back to back relation to the first stage turbine rotor, the first and second stage turbine rotors being operative to extract energy from a flow of compressed air for driving the shaft (20), and the fan rotor (40) and the compressor rotor (60), in rotation about the axis, and first and second hydrodynamic gas film foil bearings (70, 80) for supporting the shaft for rotation about the longitudinal axis (12).

Conventional aircraft environmental control systems incorporate an air cycle machine, also referred to as an air cycle cooling machine, for use in cooling and dehumidifying air for supply to the aircraft cabin for occupant comfort. Typically, such air cycle machines are three wheel machines comprised of a compressor, a turbine, and a fan disposed at axially spaced intervals along a common shaft, the turbine driving both the compressor and the fan. The three wheels are supported for rotation about the axis of the shaft on one or more bearing assemblies disposed about the drive shaft, such as a pair of spaced bearing assemblies, one bearing assembly disposed intermediate each pair of adjacent spaced wheels. Although the bearing assemblies may be ball bearings or the like, hydrodynamic film bearings, such as gas film foil bearings, are often utilized on state-of-the-art air cycle machines. For example, three wheel air cycle machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,428,242 and 4,507,939; and also in commonly assigned, U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,672.
The three wheel air cycle machine disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,242 comprises a fan, a compressor and a cooling turbine mounted to a common shaft driven by the turbine, with the fan being disposed at one end of the shaft and the turbine and compressor being disposed in back to back relationship at the other end of the shaft with the turbine inboard of the compressor. The shaft is rotatively supported on a ball bearing assembly disposed intermediate the fan and the turbine and cooled by turbine outlet air.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,939, a three wheel air cycle machine is disclosed which includes a fan, a compressor and a turbine mounted to a common shaft driven by the turbine with the fan being disposed between the compressor and the turbine which are mounted to the opposite ends of the shaft. Rotational support for the shaft is provided by a pair of gas film bearings, one disposed about the shaft intermediate the fan and the compressor and the other disposed about the shaft intermediate the fan and the turbine. Both gas film bearings are cooled and pressurized with compressed air passed from the inlet to the cooling turbine through the bearing and thence discharged into the fan inlet or outlet ducts.
The three wheel air cycle machine disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,672 also incorporates a fan, a compressor and turbine mounted to a common shaft driven by the turbine and supported on a pair of hydrodynamic film foil bearings. In this air cycle machine, the compressor is centrally disposed on the shaft with the fan and the turbine disposed at opposite ends of the shaft thereby providing for axial discharge of the fan exhaust and the turbine exhaust. One of the hydrodynamic film foil bearings supporting the shaft is disposed between the compressor and the turbine and the other between the compressor and the fan. A bearing cooling circuit is provided whereby compressed air from the turbine inlet duct is passed first through one bearing and thence the other bearing, to both cool and pressurize the hydrodynamic film foil bearings, and thereafter discharged into the compressor inlet duct.
On aircraft powered by turbine engines, the air to be conditioned in the air cycle machine is typically compressed air bled from one or more of the compressor stages of the turbine engine. In conventional systems, this bleed air is passed through the air cycle machine compressor wherein it is further compressed, thence passed through a condensing heat exchanger to cool the compressed air sufficiently to condense moisture therefrom thereby dehumidifying the air before expanding the dehumidified compressed air in the turbine of the air cycle machine to both extract energy from the compressed air so as to drive the shaft and also to cool the expanded turbine exhaust air for use as the cooling fluid in the aforementioned condensing heat exchanger before it is supplied to the cabin as conditioned cooling air. The compressed bleed air being supplied to the compressor of the air cycle machine is typically precooled by passing it through a precooling heat exchanger in heat exchange relationship with ambient air drawn through the precooling heat exchanger by the fan of the air cycle machine.
Although conventional three wheel air cycle machines are satisfactory for use in such conventional environmental control systems, such three wheel air cycle machines are not suitable for use in the improved aircraft environmental control system disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,622, wherein the expanded and cooled turbine exhaust air which has passed as the cooling fluid in heat exchange relationship with the compressed air passing through the condensing heat exchanger is, after discharge from the cooling fluid path of the condensing heat exchanger, expanded in a second turbine to cool the expanded air to a desired temperature for supply to the cabin as conditioned cooling air and to extract further energy therefrom. To be suitable for use in this improved aircraft air conditioning system, an air cycle machine must have four wheels, i.e. two turbines, a compressor and a fan.


A circuit assemblage and a method for evaluating signals of a crankshaft sensor and of a camshaft sensor of an internal combustion engine are provided, the times at which the signals occur being evaluated. A position signal of a shaft of the internal combustion engine is formed from the times. Storage units are provided which simultaneously store the occurrence times of the signals of the crankshaft sensor and the occurrence times of signals of the camshaft sensor. A decision unit is provided as to whether the position signal is formed from the occurrence times of the signals of the crankshaft sensor or from the occurrence times of the signals of the camshaft sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for evaluating signals of a crankshaft sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Published German patent application document DE 43 27 218 A has already disclosed a circuit assemblage and a method for evaluating signals of a crankshaft sensor and of a camshaft sensor, in which the one or the other method is carried out alternatively in each case.

Circuit arrangement and method for evaluating signals of a crankshaft sensor and of a camshaft sensor of an internal combustion engine


Devices and methods for debugging software or detecting malicious software on a compute node are described herein. A device can include an interface to a central processing unit (CPU) of a compute node. The device can include processing circuitry. During execution of a software application of the CPU, the processing circuitry can process CPU operational metrics received over the interface, wherein values of the CPU operational metrics vary with execution of the software application. Based on the values, the processing circuitry can determine an operational status of the software application and provide an indicator of an error condition of the software application responsive to detection of an error based on any criteria. Other embodiments are also described.

Current methods for debugging software, optimizing software operation, and detecting the presence of malicious software cannot reliably collect low-level operating system data structures. Accordingly, the usefulness of current methods is limited because they may not offer an opportunity for operators to view and use desired information. Additionally, current methods can affect operations of a central processing unit (CPU) and therefore collected metrics may not accurately reflect the true state of the corresponding software and/or system.

Software condition evaluation apparatus and methods


In a liquid discharging recording head having recording liquid discharging heaters for generating an energy for discharging the recording liquid and a plurality of compensating heaters for heating recording liquid, both of which are disposed on the same substrate, the plurality of compensating heaters are selectively energized in response to an output from a thermistor for sensing a temperature of the recording liquid, the energization of the compensating heaters is interrupted when a temperature of the substrate exceeds a predetermined temperature, thereby attaining temperature compensation of the recording head.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a liquid discharging or ejecting recording head of the type in which a heat energy is applied to a recording liquid so that the recording liquid is converted into liquid droplets which in turn are discharged or ejected from the recording head in order to record data and more particularly to a liquid discharging or ejecting head in which a temperature of such a head is compensated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Liquid discharging or ejecting recording methods such as a so-called ink jet recording method have recently been attracting an increasing interest because noise produced at the time of recording is almost negligible; a high speed recording is possible; and the liquid discharging or ejecting recording is made on plain paper without requiring any special fixing process.
Of these methods, the liquid discharging recording method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-open No. 54-51837 and German Patent Application Laying-open (DOLS) No. 2843064 has a feature different from the other methods especially in that a thermal energy is applied to recording liquid so as to obtain an energy for jetting liquid droplets.
More particularly, according to this method, when recording liquid is actuated by a thermal energy, the recording liquid changes its state, involving rapid expansion of a volume of the recording liquid. As a result of this change of state, the recording liquid is ejected from an orifice such as a liquid discharging opening positioned at the end of the recording head by a force based upon the change of the state to form a frying droplet. The frying droplet lands on a recording medium such as recording paper, so that recording is made on the paper.
The liquid discharging recording method of the type disclosed in DOLS No. 2843064 is advantageously applied to a so-called drop-on demand recording method. Furthermore, according to this method, a recording head with a high degree of multi-orifice in the form of a full line can be easily constructed. Thus, the liquid recording head has a feature in that a high quality image with a high degree of resolution can be obtained at a high speed.
A recording head used in a recording apparatus constructed according to the above-mentioned method includes, in general, a liquid discharging portion having a plurality of orifices each of which ejects recording liquid to form a frying droplet and a plurality of recording liquid passages which partially have a thermal energy application portion for applying a thermal energy for discharging a droplet to the recording liquid; and means for generating the thermal energy.
So far, a liquid discharging recording head is constructed in the manner described above. Such a head, however, has various problems to be solved as will be described below.
Firstly, some problems are caused by temperature characteristics of the liquid discharging recording head. Concerning a relation of a size of a recording dot formed by a recording liquid droplet landed on recording paper, i.e., a dot diameter with a temperature of the recording head, the dot diameter is closely dependent upon a temperature of the recording head. The reason is that in accordance with variations in temperature of the recording head, an initial bubble forming force required for forming a recording liquid droplet varies over a wide range. Especially when the temperature is low, the initial bubble forming force applied to the recording liquid is small, so that a frying recording liquid droplet cannot be formed in a stable manner. As a result, it is impossible to obtain a high quality dot image.
In order to overcome this problem, so far an external heating type heater such as a positive characteristic thermistor is used to heat the entire recording head from the exterior of the head. According to this method, however, the whole recording head is heated so that there are problems that power consumption is higher and that the response speed of temperature rise response is slow.
Furthermore, a liquid discharging head which utilizes thermal energy involves self-heating in principle and the recording liquid flows over a substrate so that the substrate is cooled. As a result, a temperature distribution of the head is complicated. As a consequence, in the case of a liquid discharging recording head of the type having a plurality of nozzles (a multi-orifice liquid discharging recording head), it is imperative to uniform the temperature distribution and to improve the characteristics of the recording head at a low temperature in order to obtain a high quality image.
With the above in view, it has been proposed to arrange integrally heating means such as a compensating heater for temperature compensation on a heater board as a substrate having thereon thermal energy generating means for discharging the recording liquid, for example, a discharging heater, thereby increasing a thermal transmission efficiency and accordingly decreasing electric power consumption and enhancing the response speed.
When the discharging heater and the compensating heater are disposed on the heater board in closely spaced relationship in the manner described above, the thermal energy transmission efficiency is improved so that a temperature rise time required for a temperature compensation starting from low temperature is greatly different from a temperature rise time required for a temperature compensation starting from room temperature. In addition, a temperature rise time at a starting time that an electric power source is turned on to start using the recording head is different from a temperature rise time at a waiting time after a series of recording operations are terminated. In other words, a time period required for temperature compensation varies in response to an environmental temperature and an operation condition of the printer. It follows, therefore, that if a heating operation is carried out uniformly regardless of the starting time or the waiting time, for instance, the waiting time for the recording processing is excessively elongated due to the uniform heating operation, so that there is the possibility that printing errors occur.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, it can be proposed to provide a temperature sensor and means for varying an electrical energy to be applied to the compensating heater in response to a detection signal from the temperature sensor. This solution, however, involves a problem that the cost of the recording head is expensive. It can also be proposed to apply an over power to the compensating heater so that a waiting time can be reduced under any condition of the recording head. There arises, however, another problem from the standpoint of durability of the compensating heater and its energy consumption.

Temperature compensation apparatus and recording head and apparatus using the same


A medication dispensing system comprising an on-site medication dispensing unit and a central monitoring facility. The on-site medication dispensing unit holds medication in a plurality of canisters which it selects from according to an entered and stored prescription regimen and then notifies the patient by an audible or other sensory signal. If the patient presses a button within a prescribed time, the unit dispenses the selected canisters. If the patient does not press the button within the prescribed time, or if the unit detects a failure to dispense the selected canister, the unit makes the canister inaccessible and contacts a predetermined list of caregivers and then a central monitoring facility.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to a medication dispensing unit, and more particularly to a device that dispenses medication and monitors compliance with a medication regime.
2. Description of the Related Art
Doctors commonly prescribe a regimen of pills to be taken by ill persons. For example, a regimen such as "take two of the blue pills every six hours and one of the green pills every four hours" or the like is not uncommon. For some persons, such a specific regimen or course of medication may be easily followed. For other persons however, confusion can arise both concerning the schedule and concerning whether or not the medication has been taken. This problem occurs frequently with elderly persons who may have suffered some loss of mental faculties, but can occur with other persons as well.
A variety of automated dispensers of pills which are purportedly aimed at some aspects of this dispensing problem are described in the related art. According to their respective descriptions these dispensers are intended to provide for dispensing of pills according to some specified regimen. In addition, in some cases, they have some described means to permit a determination of deviations from their programmed regimen. These dispensers, however have shortcomings in their complexity, cost, flexibility, ease of use, error resistance for use in many conventional medication dispensing needs.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,323 issued to Kurtenbach describes a medication dispenser and monitor system. According to its description, the Kurtenbach dispenser apparatus has a plurality of compartments which directly receive and hold pills for dispensing individual medication dosages. The dispenser provides an alarm alerting the patient that it is time to dispense his or her medication. If the medication is not dispensed the unit makes a call to a monitoring facility. The medication dispensing and monitoring system described in Kurtenbach also allows for recording non compliance by the patient.
However, Kurtenbach does not provide any protection against overdosing by the patient and, further, does not provide any emergency communication to a local caregiver who is more likely to quickly aid the patient than the central monitoring service. Also, the described medication apparatus directly stores pills in compartments which may become contaminated by residue.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,912 issued to Cousin also describes a medication dispensing apparatus. According to its description the apparatus has a plurality of pill dispensing units controlled by a microprocessor that is programmed with a patients medication schedule. According to its description, the pill dispensing apparatus can prevent overdosage or underdosage in the subject patient by altering the medication dosage dispensing schedule.
Cousin, however, has shortcomings which could render it inadequate for many anticipated uses. One shortcoming is that its apparatus uses compartments that directly contain the medication to be dispensed, and such compartments are readily susceptible to residue build up. Additionally, Cousin's described scheme and apparatus for preventing overdosage or underdosage in a subject patient is somewhat complicated and, accordingly, could be difficult to implement.
There is therefore a need for an improved dispensing system for home medication. The present invention is directed to this need, and provides further related advantages.


In a non-collinear type acousto-optic tunable filter, the incident angle of a source light beam L.sub.1 radiated from a light source 6 onto an acoustic medium 1 is set at an equivalence incident angle for which the wavelength .lambda..sub.i of the diffracted ordinary ray L.sub.3 and the wavelength .lambda..sub.i ' of the diffracted extraordinary ray L.sub.4 become approximately identical. Further, the diffracted ordinary ray L.sub.3 and the diffracted extraordinary ray L.sub.4 of the approximately identical wavelength are superposed, and the intensity of the superposed ray is detected. Consequently, spectrometry is performed based on the superposed diffracted ray having twice the intensity and a very sharp waveform, so that accurate spectroscopy can be made possible even if the intensity of the source light beam is low.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an acousto-optic tunable filter that is used in various optical apparatus such as spectroscopes and spectrophotometers and more particularly relates to a method of calculating the equivalence incident angle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, spectroscopes, spectrophotometers and the like are used in spectroscopy that obtains a spectrum by measuring the intensity of a source light beam in different wavelength regions. Prism spectroscopes and diffraction grating spectroscopes have been widely used as such spectroscopes. However, the acousto-optic tunable filter, abbreviated as AOTF, has spread recently, because of its high-speed and aseismic processing. In the AOTF, an acoustic wave is applied to an acoustic medium consisting in a uniaxial crystal such as a tellurium dioxide (TeO.sub.2) crystal. At the same time, a source light beam is radiated onto the acoustic medium to obtain a particular wavelength component of the source light beam as a diffracted ray diffracted within the acoustic medium. Here, the wavelength of the diffracted light is determined by the frequency of the applied acoustic wave, so that the spectrum of the source light beam is obtained by varying the frequency of the acoustic wave and by continuously measuring the intensity of the diffracted ray using a photometer.
The history of the development and advances of the AOTF in recent years is as follows. In 1967, an AOTF of collinear type was first realized for practical use in 1967. Here, the direction in which the acoustic wave travels is the same as the direction in which the light beam travels. However, the most practical and useful AOTFs were not realized until I. C. Chang discovered that TeO.sub.2 is an almost ideal crystal material for manufacturing the AOTF and a non-collinear type AOTF was proposed. In the non-collinear type AOTF, the direction in which the acoustic wave travels intersects with the direction in which the light beam travels. During the past 20 years, hundreds of patents and papers have been disclosed, but almost all of these research and development works are based on early theoretical contributions of I. C. Chang, T. Yano, and A. Watanabe, in which momentum matching and phase matching conditions are commonly accepted.
In the early theoretical research and development, physical models for the AOTF were perfect, but the mathematical analysis always depended on approximation methods. In 1985, Mo Fuqin proposed, for the first time, an accurate mathematical description about the parallel-tangent condition. In 1987, Epikhin gave a general system of equations that represent accurate relationships between acoustic parameters and optical parameters. This is one of the greatest contributions to AOTF designing. In 1991, Gass set the acoustic wavevector angle at -80.23.degree. for no particular reason to calculate optimal parameters for the system. In 1992, Ren Quan almost entirely followed the analytic method of Gass's paper and set the acoustic wavevector angle at 105.degree. to calculate a set of parameters for this particular acoustic wavevector angle. However, optimal acoustic wavevector angles have not been given through general study for an entire perfect-phase-matching curve.
As described above, the AOTF has rapidly spread and progressed of recent years, but a number of problems to be solved remain with prior AOTFs. One of the problems is as follows. In the AOTF in general, two diffracted rays, a diffracted ordinary ray of wavelength .lambda..sub.i and a diffracted extraordinary ray of wavelength .lambda..sub.i ' are obtained from a source light beam that contains an incident extraordinary ray and an incident ordinary ray, through diffraction within the acoustic medium, depending on the wavelength of the acoustic wave (See FIG. 1). Here, the-wavelengths .lambda..sub.i and .lambda..sub.i ' are relatively close. A prior AOTF used one of the diffracted rays, usually the diffracted ordinary ray to obtain the spectrum of the source light beam.
However, in the prior AOTF, if the intensity of the source light beam is low, or if the intensity of the components of the source light beam in a wavelength region is low, then the accuracy of spectrometry or the accuracy of the finally obtained spectrum becomes low. For example, in the spectral analysis of measuring the absorption spectrum of an object, it is required to accurately measure the intensity of the light in a wavelength region that is absorbed by the object, but the light intensity is often low in the wavelength region owing to the absorption. Therefore, there has been a problem that the accuracy of the spectral analysis becomes low if an AOTF is used.

Acousto-optic tunable filter and method of calculating its equivalence incident angle