An assembly carrying vehicle running control system, includes a plurality of assembly carrying vehicles, a control apparatus, and a plurality of access points connected with said control apparatus and provided for said plurality of assembly carrying vehicles. Each of the plurality of access points has a communication area. When each of the plurality of assembly carrying vehicles is individually in the communication area of a currently communicating access point of the plurality of access points, the assembly carrying vehicle transmits an operation status data indicative of an operation status to the control apparatus through the currently communicating access point. The control apparatus determines an operation control instruction based on the operation status data to transmit to the assembly carrying vehicle. The assembly carrying vehicle receives the operation control instruction from the control apparatus through the currently communicating access point such that an operation of the assembly carrying vehicle is controlled based on the operation control instruction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a travel control system for an assembly carrying vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
An assembly carrying vehicle is used to carry the body of an automobile to be assembled in an automobile assembly line of an automobile production factory. Therefore, a system for controlling running or travel of the assembly carrying vehicles is necessary. A conventional assembly carrying vehicle is run along a predetermined energized orbit. An electrical power for the assembly carrying vehicle is supplied to the vehicle through the contact of a brush to the orbit.
The conventional assembly carrying vehicle running or travel control system will be described below. In the conventional assembly carrying vehicle running control system, the assembly carrying vehicle is generally used in a final automobile assembly line, during which parts such as seats, doors, interior, and exterior are mounted on the body after painting.
At first, a different individual work is carried out in each of a plurality of stations disposed along the orbit on which the assembly carrying vehicle runs, manually or by use of a working robot in the final automobile assembly line. The assembly carrying vehicle is moved at a slow speed in the station in which the work is manually carried out, while the assembly carrying vehicle is stopped in a perfectly positioned state in the station in which the work is carried out by use of the working robot. Generally, the manual work is carried out to mount a small part, and the work using the working robot is carried out to mount a large part such as a door. Also, in the respective stations, a height of the body carried by the assembly carrying vehicle from a floor is automatically adjusted to a height at which a worker can easily carry out the mounting work, or an appropriate height when the mounting work is carried out by use of the working robot.
The assembly carrying vehicle running control system has a control apparatus for controlling the whole system. The movement of the assembly carrying vehicle is controlled through communication between the control apparatus and the assembly carrying vehicle. The communication is carried out between a communicating unit of the assembly carrying vehicle and a plurality of access points (AP) connected to the control apparatus.
Conventionally, a fixed point communication system using optical communication has been mainly used for the communication between the assembly carrying vehicle and the access points AP. In recent years, a radio communication system has been used for the communication between the assembly carrying vehicle and the access points AP.
A technique related to such a radio go communication system is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 7-95145). In this reference, it is intended to easily check a communication status in all communication positions on a moving route of an assembly carrying vehicle. In this configuration, the assembly carrying vehicle has a communicating unit for carrying out radio communication with a communicating unit of a ground station. The assembly carrying vehicle communicating unit is provided with a controlling section and a communication position detecting section. The controlling section controls the movement of the assembly carrying vehicle, and also controls a communicating operation of the assembly carrying vehicle communicating unit. The communication position detecting section detects a communication position at which a communication with the ground station communicating unit is carried out. Then, in the conventional assembly carrying vehicle running control system, the controlling section drives the assembly carrying vehicle communicating unit in accordance with the detected result of the communication position detecting section.
When a communication test mode is instructed, the controlling unit controls the assembly carrying vehicle to carry out a test run to pass through each of a plurality of test communication positions. Also, the controlling unit controls the communicating unit to carry out a test communication with the ground station communicating unit in each of the plurality of test communication positions. Moreover, a spectrum spreading communication method may be used in the radio communication.
Next, another conventional technique with regard to the operational control of the assembly carrying vehicle will be described below. At first, a plurality of fixed indication plates are installed on a predetermined orbit on which the assembly carrying vehicle moves. The indication plates are fixedly installed on a floor. A sensor is mounted in the assembly carrying vehicle to detect the indication plate. When detecting one of the plurality of indication plates by use of the sensor, the assembly carrying vehicle acquires an operation pattern data at the detected location. The operation of the assembly carrying vehicle is defined by the operation pattern data from an external unit. The assembly carrying vehicle carries out an operation to retain or maintain a tact pitch distance, a cornering operation or a constant speed operation, until detecting a next one of the plurality of fixed indication plates by use of the sensor.
In this way, according to the conventional technique, a current position control for the assembly carrying vehicle itself is not carried out. Therefore, it is difficult to carry out a position recovery resulting from occurrence of overrun or a position displacement of the assembly carrying vehicle. Also, this requires work for changing the fixed indication plates in association with a line change. Hence, in the above configuration, the line can not be changed flexibly or easily.
Also, in the conventional assembly carrying vehicle running controller system, the control of the assembly carrying vehicle is carried out by the control apparatus through monitoring a status table of the assembly carrying vehicle.
A supersonic sensor is mounted on an assembly carrying vehicle, in order to measure a distance from a preceding assembly carrying vehicle running immediately before. The running speed of the assembly carrying vehicle can be adjusted based on the distance from the preceding assembly carrying vehicle, which is measured by the supersonic sensor. Thus, the assembly carrying vehicle can be moved while keeping a constant interval from the preceding assembly carrying vehicle. When the assembly carrying vehicle is running on a corner on a predetermined orbit, the supersonic sensor may likely sense things other than the preceding assembly carrying vehicle. For this reason, it is impossible to accurately measure the distance from the preceding assembly carrying vehicle on the corner. Hence, when the assembly carrying vehicle is running on the corner, the running control can not be carried out by use of the supersonic sensor. Especially, if the assembly carrying vehicle is urgently stopped on the corner, a succeeding assembly carrying vehicle may collide with the preceding assembly carrying vehicle.
Also, in the conventional assembly carrying vehicle running control system, the running or travel control of the assembly carrying vehicle is carried out through optical communication between the control apparatus and the communicating unit of the assembly carrying vehicle via a relaying unit, which is provided for one of the plurality of fixed indication plates. The assembly carrying vehicle receives control data such as a running operation and the height of a carried member through the communication. Then, the assembly carrying vehicle is moved to the next fixed indication plate based on the control data. For this reason, when trouble occurs in a part of the fixed indication plates, the assembly carrying vehicle can not be correctly controlled.
In conjunction with the above description, a spectrum spreading communication apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 5-75573). In this reference, a received signal is subjected to FFT frequency analysis to extract noise. The extracted noise is subjected to inverse FFT transformation. The noise is inverted and added to the received signal. As a result, the noise is removed from the received or cancelled signal.
Also, a train position detecting apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 5-24538). In this reference, a spread signal is alternately sent to crossed induction lines from a pair of antennas which are provided on a train. A receiver is provided to carry out an inverse spreading operation. In this way, it can be detected that the pair of antennas of the train is positioned on one of the loops.
Also, a train detecting apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 7-81567). In this reference, a PN code sequence of PN1 code and a PN2 code is spread and modulated to produce a modulation signal. The modulation signal is transmitted from a ground transmitting side to a loop P. A signal is received and demodulated by a ground receiving side, and the PN code sequence is extracted from the demodulated signal by use of a low pass filter. Then, each of the PN codes is detected by use of correlation matched filters. From a train, a signal which has been spread and modulated with the PN1 code is always transmitted from the head portion of the train to the loop. Also, a signal which has been spread and modulated with the PN2 code is always transmitted from the last portion of the train to the loop. In this way, when only the PN code contained in the signal from the ground transmitting side is detected, a relay CHR is turned on. Thus, it is detected that there is no train. When the PN code contained in the signal from the ground transmitting side and the PN1 code from the head portion of the train are detected, the relay CHR is turned off and a relay INR is turned on. Thus, it is detected that the train is coming in the loop. When the PN code contained in the signal from the ground transmitting side and the PN2 code from the last portion of the train are detected, the relay CHR and the relay INR are turned off and a relay OUTR is turned on. Thus, it is detected that the train is going out from the loop.
Also, a moving vehicle control facility is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 7-182038). In this reference, memory media are provided along a running route L of a moving vehicle. Each of the memory media is composed of a storage section for storing control data of the moving vehicle, and a communicating section for communicating the control data. The moving vehicle is composed of a read section for reading the control data through communication with one of the memory media and a control unit,for controlling the operation of the moving vehicle based on the control data. In such a system, the control data is divisionally stored in a plurality of memory media TPA and TPB which are arranged adjacent to each other along the running route L. The control section reads out the control data from the memory media TPA and TPB while the moving vehicle runs on the running route L.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which a current position of an assembly carrying vehicle can be accurately detected.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which an assembly carrying vehicle can be always controlled by a control apparatus.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which the running state of an assembly carrying vehicle on a corner of an orbit can be properly managed by a control apparatus.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which a collision between assembly carrying vehicles on a corner can avoided.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which stoppage of the running operation of the assembly carrying vehicle is assured even when one of a plurality of access points has failed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which a control apparatus can communicate with an assembly carrying vehicle irrespective of the position of the assembly carrying vehicle.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which a control apparatus can always communicate with an assembly carrying vehicle via access points.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which a high speed roaming operation by an assembly carrying vehicle can be made possible when the control apparatus communicates with the running assembly carrying vehicle through one of a plurality of access points.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system in which collisions between assembly carrying vehicles can be avoided, even when any failure occurs in the running assembly carrying vehicles.
In order to achieve an aspect of the present invention, an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system includes a plurality of assembly carrying vehicles, a control apparatus, and a plurality of access points. The plurality of access points are connected with the control apparatus and provided for the plurality of assembly carrying vehicles. Each of the plurality of access points has a communication area. When each of the plurality of assembly carrying vehicles is individually in the communication area of a currently communicating one of the access points, the assembly carrying vehicle transmits an operation status data indicative of an operation status thereof to the control apparatus through the currently communicating access point. The control apparatus determines an operation control instruction based on the operation status data to transmits the instruction to the assembly carrying vehicle. The assembly carrying vehicle receives the operation control instruction from the control apparatus through the currently communicating access point such that an operation of the assembly carrying vehicle is controlled based on the operation control instruction.
In this case, the control apparatus may issue a state notice request signal to the plurality of access points. Each of the plurality of access points transmits an access point operating state data indicating an operating state thereof to the control apparatus. The control apparatus determines a failed one of the plurality of access points based on the access point operating state data.
Also, it is desirable that each of the plurality of access points has a peculiar data and transmits the peculiar data to the control apparatus in response to the state notice request signal from the control apparatus when the access point has not failed. The control apparatus determines the failed access point from the transmitted peculiar data from the plurality of access points. Alternately, each of the plurality of access points may transmit the peculiar data to the control apparatus in response to the state notice request signal from the control apparatus when the access point has failed. At that time, the control apparatus determines the failed access point from the peculiar data transmitted from the plurality of access points.
Also, the control apparatus and the plurality of access points may be connected with a LAN using Ethernet.
The plurality of access points are arranged such that electric field intensity levels of reception signals from a predetermined number of ones of the plurality of access points are equal to or higher than a first threshold intensity level. In this case, the plurality of access points are desirably arranged such that the electric field intensity level of the reception signal from at least one of the predetermined number of access points is equal to or higher than a second threshold intensity level. Here, the second threshold intensity level is higher than the first threshold intensity level. Also, the predetermined number may be at least 2.
Also, the plurality of access points may be arranged such that electric field intensity levels of reception signals from two or more of the plurality of access points are at least a predetermined threshold intensity level.
Also, the currently communicating access point may include a communicating unit to communicate with the assembly carrying vehicle. In this case, the control apparatus transmits the operation control instruction to the assembly carrying vehicle via the currently communicating access point. Each of the assembly carrying vehicle may include a communicating unit communicating with the currently communicating access point and with the control apparatus via the currently communicating access point, and a control unit controlling the operation of the assembly carrying vehicle based on the operation control instruction received from the control apparatus via the currently communicating access point. In this case, it is desirable that the communication between the currently communicating access point and the one assembly carrying vehicle is a spectrum spreading communication of a frequency hopping system.
Also, the control apparatus may determine the operation status of the assembly carrying vehicle based on the operation status data transmitted from the assembly carrying vehicle, and transmit an operation status data indicative of the determined operation as the operation control instruction to the assembly carrying vehicle. Also, the assembly carrying vehicle may further include a high speed roaming table, which stores next communicatable ones of the plurality of access points. The next communicatable access points are associated with the currently communicating access point. In this case, the control unit selects one of the next communicatable access points stored in the high speed roaming table as a new currently communicating access point when an electric field intensity of a reception signal from the currently communicating access point becomes lower than a predetermined threshold intensity level. Each of the plurality of access points may also have a high speed roaming table to store the next communicatable access points. The communicating unit of the assembly carrying vehicle receives the next communicatable access points from the currently communicating access point. The control unit stores the next communicatable access points received from the currently communicating access point in the high speed roaming table of the assembly carrying vehicle.
Also, the control unit selects one, having a maximum reception signal electric field intensity level, of the next communicatable access points stored in the high speed roaming table of the assembly carrying vehicle, when the reception signal electric field intensity level from the currently communicating access point is lower than the predetermined threshold intensity level.
Also, the control apparatus may include an input unit used to input the next communicatable access points for each of the plurality of access points, and a which notifies unit notifying the inputted next communicatable access points to the plurality of access points, respectively. Each of the plurality of access points stores the next communicatable access points received from the control apparatus in the roaming table thereof.
Also, each of the plurality of assembly carrying vehicles has a status table indicating the operation status of the assembly carrying vehicle. The communicating unit of the assembly carrying vehicle transmits a data of the status table as the operation status data to the control apparatus through the currently communicating access point. In this case, the data of the status table may include: a current position data indicative of a current position of the assembly carrying vehicle; the operation status data indicative of the operation status of the assembly carrying vehicle; and a failure indication data indicative of a failure in the assembly carrying vehicle. The communicating unit notifies the operation status data of the assembly carrying vehicle to the control apparatus, when the operating status data or the failure indication data of the assembly carrying vehicle is updated. In this case, the control apparatus may further include a display unit displaying at least one of the current position of the assembly carrying vehicle, the operation status thereof, and existence or non-existence of the failure based on the operation status data transmitted from the assembly carrying vehicle.
Also, the assembly carrying vehicle travel control system may further include a plurality of position indication members provided along an orbit, the assembly carrying vehicle traveling on the orbit. It is desirable that each of the assembly carrying vehicles includes a position indication member detector which detects each of the plurality of indication members, and a running distance measuring unit measuring a running distance of the assembly carrying vehicle from a start point of the orbit to a current position of the assembly carrying vehicle, or from one of the plurality of position indication members to a next one of the plurality of position indication members. In this case, the communicating unit of the assembly carrying vehicle transmits a failure indication data to the control apparatus when a difference between a position corresponding to one of the position indication members detected by the position indication member detector and a position corresponding to the running distance measured by the running distance measuring unit is larger than a predetermined value. Also, the running distance measuring unit measures the running distance of the assembly carrying vehicle based on a number of rotations of a motor to drive a wheel of the assembly carrying vehicle.
Also, each of the assembly carrying vehicles may further include an operation table, which stores a plurality of operation data indicative of operations to be executed by the assembly carrying vehicle. The control unit acquires a specific one of the plurality of operation data from the operation table and carries out the operation corresponding to the acquired operation data. In this case, the communicating unit receives a plurality of operation data from the control apparatus at a start point of the orbit, and the control unit stores the plurality of operation data received by the communicating unit in the operation table. Also, the plurality of operation data may be stored by the control unit in the operation table in an order of execution. In this case, the control units accesses to the operation table based on a number of position indication members detected by the position indication member detector from the start point of the orbit to acquire one of the plurality of operation data, and executes the operation corresponding to the acquired operation data. Alternatively, when the plurality of operation data are stored in the operation table based on the distance from the start point of the orbit and, the control units accesses to the operation table based on the running distance measured by the running distance measuring unit to acquire one of the plurality of operation data, and executes the operation corresponding to the acquired operation data.
Also, when each of the plurality of operation data received by the communicating unit contains a distance data, the control unit may search the operation table for one of the plurality of operation data having a distance data corresponding to the running distance measured by the running distance measuring unit, and carry out any such operation data found by the search. In this case, the control unit may continue to carry out a current one of the operation data, when any of the operation data having the distance data corresponding to the running distance measured is not found by the search.
Also, the control unit may transmit the operation status data indicative of failure occurrence to the control apparatus when the position indication member detector does not detect any position indication member for a predetermined time interval after a previous position indication member is detected. Then the control apparatus transmits a stop request signal as the operation control instruction to the plurality of assembly carrying vehicles, and the control unit of the assembly carrying vehicle stops the running of the assembly carrying vehicle in response to the stop request signal. In this case the control system is a operative according to the equations:
I less than T1xc3x97V
T1 less than W/Vxe2x88x92T2
where I is a distance between the previous position indication member and the position indication member currently detected, T1 is the predetermined time interval, V is a velocity of the assembly carrying vehicle, W is a distance between the assembly carrying vehicle and a preceding one of the plurality of assembly carrying vehicles, and T2 is a time interval from transmission of the operation status data indicative of failure occurrence by the preceding assembly carrying vehicle to reception of the stop request signal.
Also, the current position of the assembly carrying vehicle is updated based on a position data corresponding to the position indication member currently detected by the position indication member detector.
In another aspect, a control method of an assembly carrying vehicle in an assembly carrying vehicle travel control system, is attained by the steps of arranging a plurality of position indication members along an orbit, each of a plurality of assembly carrying vehicles running on the orbit; providing a plurality of access points connected to a control apparatus, each of the plurality of access points has a communication area, and each of the assembly carrying vehicles being communicatable with one of the plurality of access points as a currently communicating access point when the assembly carrying vehicle is in the communication area of the one access point; transmitting from the assembly carrying vehicle an operation status data indicative of an operation status thereof to the control apparatus through the currently communicating access point; determining by the control apparatus an operation control instruction based on the operation status data and transmitting the operation control instruction to the assembly carrying vehicle; receiving the operation control instruction by the assembly carrying vehicle from the control apparatus through the currently communicating access point; and controlling operation of the assembly carrying vehicle based on the operation control instruction received from the control apparatus via the currently communicating access point.
The control method may further include the steps of: detecting each of the plurality of position indication members; measuring a running distance of the assembly carrying vehicle from a start point of the orbit to a current position of the assembly carrying vehicle, or from one of the plurality of indication members to a next one of the plurality of indication members; determining a current position of the assembly carrying vehicle based on at least one of the detected position indication members or the measured running distance: receiving and storing a plurality of operation data indicative of operations to be executed by the assembly carrying vehicle in an operation table; controlling the operation of the assembly carrying vehicle based on a specific one of the plurality of operation data which is determined based on the determined current position; updating a status table indicating the operation status of the assembly carrying vehicle based on at least one of change of the operation status of the assembly carrying vehicle, change of the at least one detected position indication member or the measured running distance, and a failure of the assembly carrying vehicle; and transmitting the status table as the operation status data from the assembly carrying vehicle to the control apparatus.
The step of providing a plurality of access points is attained by transmitting a state notice request signal from the control apparatus to the plurality of access points; transmitting from each of the plurality of access points an access point operating state data indicating an operating state thereof to the control apparatus; and determining a failed one of the plurality of access points by the control apparatus based on the access point operating state data.
Also, when each of the plurality of access points has a peculiar data, the control method may further include the step of: notifying the peculiar data from each of the plurality of access points to the control apparatus in response to the state notice request signal from the control apparatus, when the access point has not failed; and the step of determining a failed one of access points involves determining the failed access point from the notified peculiar data from the plurality of access points. Alternately, when each of the plurality of access points has a peculiar data, the control method may further include the step of: notifying the peculiar data from each of the plurality of access points to the control apparatus in response to the state notice request signal from the control apparatus, when the access point has failed; and the step of determining a failed one of access points involves determining the failed access point from the notified peculiar data from the plurality of access points.
Also, the control apparatus and the plurality of access points may be connected with a LAN using Ethernet.
Also, the step of providing a plurality of access points may be attained by arranging the plurality of access points such that electric field intensity levels of reception signals from a predetermined number of ones of the plurality of access points are higher than a first threshold intensity level. In this case, the step of providing a plurality of access points may include: arranging the plurality of access points such that the electric field intensity level of the reception signal from at least one of the predetermined number of access points is higher than a second threshold intensity level, the second threshold intensity level is higher than the first threshold intensity level. It is desirable that the predetermined number is equal to or more than 2.
Also, the step of providing a plurality of access points may be attained by arranging the plurality of access points such that electric field intensity levels of reception signals from two or more of the plurality of access points are higher than a predetermined threshold intensity level.
Also, communication between the currently communicating access point and the assembly carrying vehicle may be a spectrum spreading communication of a frequency hopping system.
Also, the step of determining an operation control instruction may include: determining the operation status of the assembly carrying vehicle by the control apparatus based on the operation status data transmitted from the assembly carrying vehicle, and transmitting an operation data indicative of the determined operation status as the operation control instruction to the assembly carrying vehicle.
The control method may further include the step of: selecting one of next communicatable access points stored in a high speed roaming table of the assembly carrying vehicle as a new currently communicating access point, when an electric field intensity of a reception signal from the currently communicating access point becomes lower than a predetermined threshold intensity level, wherein the next communicatable access points are associated with the currently communicating access point. In this case, when each of the plurality of access points also include a high speed roaming table to store the next communicatable access points, the step of selecting one of next communicatable access points may be attained by receiving the next communicatable access points from the currently communicating access point to store in the high speed roaming table of the assembly carrying vehicle.
Also, the selecting step may include: selecting one, having a maximum reception signal electric field intensity level, of the next communicatable access points stored in the high speed roaming table of the assembly carrying vehicle, when the reception signal electric field intensity level from the currently communicating access point is lower than a predetermined threshold intensity level.
Also, the selecting step may be attained by inputting the next communicatable access points for each of the plurality of access points in the control apparatus; by transmitting the inputted next communicatable access points to the plurality of access points, respectively; and by storing the next communicatable access points received from the control apparatus in the roaming table of each of the plurality of access points.
Also, the control method may further includes the step of: Also, displaying at least one of the current position of the assembly carrying vehicle, the operation status thereof, and existence or non-existence of the failure of the assembly carrying vehicle based on the operation status data notified from the assembly carrying vehicle.
The control method may further include the step of: transmitting a failure indication data from the assembly carrying vehicle to the control apparatus when a difference between a position corresponding to a detected one of the position indication members and a position corresponding to the measured running distance of the assembly carrying vehicle is larger than a predetermined value.
Also, the measuring step includes: measuring the running distance of the assembly carrying vehicle based on a number of rotations of a motor driving a wheel of the assembly carrying vehicle.
The step of receiving and storing a plurality of operation data may include: receiving the plurality of operation data from the control apparatus at a start point of the orbit; and storing the plurality of received operation data in the operation table. In this case, the step of storing the plurality of received operation data may be attained by storing the plurality of received operation data in the operation table in an order of execution, and the step of controlling operation of the assembly carrying vehicle may be attained by accessing the operation table based on a number of position indication members detected from the start point of the orbit to acquire one of the plurality of operation data; and carrying out the operation corresponding to the acquired one of the plurality of operation data.
Also, the storing the step of plurality of received operation data may be attained by storing the plurality of received operation data in the operation table based on the running distance from the start point of the orbit, and the step of controlling an operation of the assembly carrying vehicle may be attained by accessing the operation table based on the measured running distance to acquire one of the plurality of operation data; and carrying out the operation corresponding to the acquired one of the plurality of operation data.
Also, when each of the plurality of operation data contains a distance data, the step of controlling an operation of the assembly carrying vehicle may be attained by searching the operation table for a specific one of the plurality of operation data having a distance data corresponding to the measured running distance and carrying out any such operation data found by the search. In this case, the step of controlling an operation of the assembly carrying may include: continuing to carry vehicle out a current operation data when any operation data having the distance data corresponding to the measured distance measured is not found by the search.
Also, the step of controlling an operation of the assembly carrying vehicle may include: transmitting the operation status data indicative of failure occurrence to the control apparatus when any of the position indication members is not detected for a predetermined time interval after a previous position indication member is detected. The control method may further include the step of: transmitting by the control apparatus a stop request signal as the operation control instruction to the assembly carrying vehicle upon receiving the operation status data indicative. Also, the step of controlling an operation of the assembly carrying vehicle may stop the running of the assembly carrying vehicle in response to the stop request signal. In this case the method is operative according to the equations,
I less than T1xc3x97V
T1 less than W/Vxe2x88x92T2
where I is a distance between the previous position indication member and the position indication member currently detected, T1 is the predetermined time interval, V is a velocity of the assembly carrying vehicle, W is a distance between the assembly carrying vehicle and a preceding one of the plurality of assembly carrying vehicles, and T2 is a time interval from transmission of the operation status data indicative of failure occurrence by the preceding assembly carrying vehicle to reception of the stop request signal.
Also, the current position of the assembly carrying vehicle is updated based on a position data corresponding to the detected position indication members.


An optical modulation system having cascade-coupled electro-optic modulator stages in either dual tandem or split tandem configurations. An electrical splitter derives multiple electrical drives for the multiple stages from a single modulating input signal. The multiple drive signals are linearly related in magnitude and preferably induce simultaneous antiphase (180.degree. out-of-phase) optical modulation in the tandem stages. While a double Mach-Zehnder cascade configuration could be used, at least one modulator stage might instead be a balanced-bridge interfometer-type modulator having at least one directional coupler. At least one directional coupler in such a configuration may be a .DELTA..beta. coupler. Application of bias voltages to the interferometer sections and to coupler sections by means of a parametric feedback loop is done in order to simultaneously enhance the linear modulation coefficient, minimize odd order distortions and null the even order distortions that are associated with biased .DELTA..beta. couplers.

Optical modulators of interest in the present invention are integrated optical waveguide structures which may be considered as having an input section, a central phase modulating interferometer (IF) section and an output section. The input and output sections may be either Y-junction (YJ) optical waveguide structures (YJ splitter with one input waveguide dividing into two output waveguides or YJ combiner wherein two input waveguides merge into a single output waveguide) or optical directional couplers (DC) which are 2.times.2 optical ports having paired coupled waveguides. One type of optical modulator of interest is the Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator. This has a YJ splitter input section, a central IF section and a YJ combiner output (YJ-IF-YJ in our notation). Another type of optical modulator of interest is the balanced bridge modulator (BBI). This has three possible configurations: (1) YJ-IF-DC, (2) DC-IF-YJ or (3) DC-IF-DC. Note that at least one of the end sections is always a DC section. Another way of characterizing these devices is in terms of the number of input and output waveguide ports, i.e. the MZ is 1.times.1, the BBI is 1.times.2, or 2.times.1, or 2.times.2. For a 2.times.2 BBI both input ports can be used or one input port may be unused effectively utilizing the device in a 1.times.2 mode of operation.
In prior art, two modulators have been connected both in series or in parallel, in an effort to improve linearity of the light power vs. modulating voltage transfer characteristic over a wide bandwidth operation range. In the dual parallel schemes, the outputs of two modulators are combined either incoherently or coherently or two orthogonal polarizations of the same modulator structure are combined to serve as the equivalents of two different parallel modulators. FIG. 1 shows a dual parallel modulator with YJs 21, bias electrodes 23, RF electrodes 25 and a phase modulator 27.
In the parallel connection scheme the two modulators (or the two orthogonal polarizations of a single modulator) are generally driven with different drive voltages or are designed to have different modulating efficiencies, often achieved through the use of different electrode lengths, and are fed with different optical powers, such that the net result is to subtract the nonlinear distortion terms generated in the two modulators. Unfortunately, this occurs at the expense of the desired linear drive signals being partially cancelled. In addition, such schemes yield a higher optical loss and require a higher RF drive power. Other problems have to do with the electrical and acoustical cross-talk between the two sections which, because of the parallel layout, are in close proximity to one another and are oriented broadside with respect to acoustic radiation coupling.
In the serial connection schemes, directional couplers with sub-sections are used with electrodes connected to several sub-sections. In these implementations, the modulating signal, typically a radio frequency (RF) drive, is applied to one electrode sub-section only and the other sub-sections are either un-modulated or DC biased.
In a paper entitled "Linearization of Electro-Optic Modulators by a Cascade Coupling of Phase Modulating Electrodes" by H. Skeie and R. V. Johnson, published in SPIE, Vol. 1583, Integrated Optical Circuits (1991), p. 153-164 the authors disclose parallel and cascade coupling of two modulators. FIG. 2 shows structures illustrated in the paper where FIG. 2a is a tandem MZ configuration with a first input YJ 31, a bias electrode 33, a first IF 35 and a first YJ output 37 joined to a second input YJ 32, a second bias electrode 34 and IF 36 and a second output YJ 38. In FIG. 2b, a MZ modulator 41, similar to the first MZ of FIG. 2a is connected through a bias electrode 43, an IF 45 to an output YJ 47. The second modulator formed by DC 48, bias electrode 42, IF 44 and YJ 46 is a BBI used in a 1.times.1 fashion. FIG. 2c shows a MZ modulator 51 coupled to a BBI modulator 53 as in FIG. 2b, except that the output section 55 is a DC. Lastly, the authors disclose in FIG. 2d a BBI modulator 61 coupled to another BBI modulator 63 and they note that the second stage is identical to the first.
Modulator L-V transfer characteristic--linearity and distortion specifications
Modulator linearity and the residual nonlinear distortion are specified in terms of the harmonic response of the power series expansion of the L-V (Light power vs. modulation Voltage) transfer characteristic. The background material reviewed here sets the mathematical notation and is well known prior art with the exception of the normalizations of power series coefficients introduced for meaningful comparison criteria among different devices.
Any electro-optic modulator (FIG. 3) can be described as a system with an optical input port where typically un-modulated CW light power P.sub.in is injected, an optical output where modulated optical power P.sub.o (t) is collected, and an electrical modulating port where a modulating voltage signal .nu.(t) is applied. The L-V characteristic is a relation between these three quantities, with P.sub.in considered a parameter: EQU P.sub.o (v)=P.sub.in Q(v) (1)
The output power is linear in the input power but is generally nonlinear in the modulating voltage, and it is our objective to reduce this nonlinearity.
The power series expansion of the transfer characteristic (Eq. 1) can be expressed as EQU P.sub.o =P(1+d.sub.1 .phi.+d.sub.2 .phi..sup.2 +d.sub.3 .phi..sup.3 + . . . ) (2)
where .phi. is a normalized voltage expressing the interferometric phase retardation ##EQU1## .nu. is the modulating voltage applied to the interferometer electrodes, V.sub..pi. is a constant called half-wave voltage--the voltage required to produce .pi. phase change in .phi. ##EQU2## P is the average output optical power, P.sub.in is the input optical power, and 10 log.sub.10 (.LAMBDA.) represents the device optical insertion loss in dB. In this disclosure, the even and third order distortions are substantially nulled rendering the dominant distortion to be the residual fifth order one. The L-V characteristic expressed in a power series with only odd terms, starting with the fifth order one is, ##EQU3## where we introduced normalized optical intensity I(.phi.) as the ratio of optical power to average power.
Assume now that the modulation signal is a sum of sinusoidal tones ##EQU4## is the modulation index in radians.
Introduce the optical modulation index (OMI) m as the ratio of the peak optical power of each of the sinusoidal carriers (Pd.sub.1 .beta.) to the average optical power (P), ##EQU5##
For a given transmitted average power, it is the OMI that determines the carrier to noise ratio. To compare two systems with the same carrier to noise ratio in terms of their nonlinear distortions, one would drive both to the same OMI.
Using the formalism above it is possible to show that the ratio of the fifth order intermodulation term to the carrier is proportional to d.sub.5.sup.norm m.sup.4, where ##EQU6## is a normalized fifth order coefficient which can be used as a figure of merit to compare two different systems both driven to the same modulation index m in terms of the strengths of their fifth order intermodulation distortion.
For a given average optical power P the amplitude in the optical power domain of each of the carriers is given by ##EQU7##
Therefore it is advantageous to maximize the linear modulation coefficient d.sub.1 and reduce the drive voltage V.sub..pi. as well as increase the average optical power P by reducing the insertion loss .LAMBDA..
Mathematical description of optical two-ports
The directional coupler and the two-arm interferometer are optical two-port devices. A generic two-port integrated optical device is illustrated in FIG. 4. It can be mathematically described in terms of a two-port transfer matrix M relating the electric fields at the two waveguide input ports 65 and 67 with the electric fields at the two waveguide output ports 71 and 73: ##EQU8##
Directional coupler (DC)
Consider a directional coupler consisting of two closely spaced waveguides, generally with biasing electrodes. The well known coupled mode equations describe the evolution of the E-fields along a coupler and the exchange of energy between the two waveguides. Let .kappa. denote the coupling coefficient per unit length between the waveguides and .delta. denote the asynchronism coefficient which is proportional to the applied voltage and to the induced phase difference per unit length between the two coupler arms, ##EQU9## with R some proportionality constant. Throughout the document .DELTA..beta. and .delta. will be used somewhat interchangeably.
A coupler with .delta.=0 is called symmetric and a coupler with nonzero .delta. is called asymmetric. The asymmetry may be structural-unequal waveguides (differing in cross-sectional dimensions and/or refractive indexes) or for the so-called .DELTA..beta. coupler it may be an asymmetry induced by the applied voltage on the electrodes. The general solution to the coupled mode equations is represented in terms of a two-port transfer matrix C [.kappa..delta.] given by ##EQU10## wherein using the notation ##EQU11## the parameters.GAMMA.,.DELTA.,K,K are expressed as ##EQU12##
From Eq. 13 it is apparent that as the coupler is made more asymmetric e.g. by applying bias voltage and causing a .DELTA..beta. difference, the magnitude of the cross-over coefficient K diminishes according to a sin (.gamma.)/.gamma. function.
As a special case of the equations above, consider a symmetric coupler .delta.=0 for which .GAMMA.=.gamma.=.kappa.L, K=sin (.gamma.) and .DELTA.=0. In this case the coupler can be interchangeably described by its coupling ratio K or its coupling angle .gamma.. For the asymmetric .DELTA..beta. coupler, the coupling ratio is defined by the analogous coupling angle .GAMMA. but a full description of the coupler must consider the phase shift .DELTA. as well. Occasionally we also describe a coupler by its power cross-over ratio K.sup.2, e.g. a 50%/50% coupler.
Push-pull phase modulating interferometer matrix (IF)
An interferometer (IF) transfer matrix corresponds to pure phase shifts with no cross-coupling between the two waveguides ##EQU13## with .phi. the differential phase retardation between the two arms. Control of the device requires applying some static bias voltage V.sub.b to the interferometer electrodes, thus in the most general case of interferometer matrix is F[.phi.+.eta.] with ##EQU14## the static bias phase.
The objectives of the invention are the design of modulator devices and related bias and tuning systems to improve the following performance criteria:
1) reduce the nonlinearities over a broad frequency band. PA0 2) maximize the modulation efficiency i.e. maximize the linear modulation coefficient and minimize the half-wave drive voltage and the optical losses. PA0 3) attain the ability to electronically tune the device to the above optimum operating point in the wake of the inevitable process irregularities. PA0 A) Dual tandem and split tandem architectures with multiple electrical drives. PA0 B) Device broadband operation achieved by means of balanced splitting ratios i.e. dual electrical drives that are equal in magnitude and either in phase or 180.degree. out of phase. PA0 C) Choice of coupler coefficients which are optimal for the reduction of odd order distortions and simultaneously for the enhancement of the linear modulation coefficient. PA0 D) Usage of voltage-tunable .DELTA..beta. couplers (with the .DELTA..sub..kappa. couplers covered as a special case) to enhance the tunability of the couplers such that the device could be biased at its optimum operating regime. PA0 E) Application of bias voltages to the interferometer sections and to couplers by means of parametric feedback loops in order to null the even order distortions of the device as associated with .DELTA..beta. couplers while minimizing odd order distortions.

Cascaded optical modulation system with high linearity


The present invention provides a method for controlling crown gall disease in plants using an effective quantity of α-proteobacteria that produces trifolitoxin (TFX). The present invention also provides a biocontrol agent for use in the above method, and a plant coated with the biological control agent. The biocontrol agent is characterized as a biologically pure culture of an α-proteobacteria strain that produces TFX, or an α-proteobacteria strain genetically engineered to produce TFX. The α-proteobacteria strain employed may include any one of the many strains of Agrobacterium capable of producing crown galls, including Agrobacterium vitis and, in particular, A. vitis F2/5. The α-proteobacteria strain employed may be genetically engineered to produce TFX by introducing a genetic construct into the Agrobacterium so as to cause the Agrobacterium to carry and express the tfx operon from Rhizobium. The bacteria may also be genetically engineered to produce TFX by introducing a pT2TFXK plasmid into the Agrobacterium. The biocontrol agent may also be the strain Agrobacterium vitis F2/5 (pT2TFXK), ATCC Patent Deposit Designation PTA-2356.

A genus of plant pathogenic bacteria is the genus Agrobacteria. Agrobacterium bacteria are naturally occurring plant genetic engineers. Members of the Agrobacterium genus natively have the ability to transfer a segment of DNA from a plasmid hosted by the bacterium into the genome of a cell of a living plant. The DNA transferred into the plant (the T-DNA) causes the plant cells to initiate two activities. One activity is to manufacture a class of chemicals, called opines, which can be metabolized by the bacteria as a food source. The other activity is to initiate the growth of a tumorous mass referred to as a crown gall.
Agrobacterium initiates crown gall growth in order to create a microenvironment, the crown gall, where the bacteria can thrive and multiply. Unfortunately, the crown gall itself saps metabolic energy from the plant that would otherwise be directed at producing vegetative growth or fruit, thus reducing the yield that would otherwise be produced by that plant. In some perennial plant species where the plant is long-lived, such as grapes, stonefruits and roses, the impact of crown gall disease can be significant. For example, strains of the bacteria Agrobacterium vitis, which attacks vines, are the primary cause of grapevine crown gall, which is the most economically damaging bacterial disease of grape worldwide.
A number of different approaches exist for controlling plant diseases in commercial agriculture. One approach is based upon the application to plants or soil of chemical agents toxic or inimical to the disease-causing organism. A second approach is based on the development of plant varieties that are resistant to infection by the particular disease or strain of disease. One other approach is based on the use of a biological organism to control the disease-causing organism. This latter strategy is referred to as biocontrol.
Biocontrol agents control plant disease by secreting chemicals that act to inhibit or kill the disease-causing organism, or by simply occupying the ecological niche that would otherwise be available to the disease-causing organism. Some microorganisms are capable of inhibiting the growth of competing microbial strains through the use of toxins. If a bacterium can emit a broad-spectrum anti-bacterial toxin into its local environment, then that bacterium will have less competition in its ecological niche. As a result, many bacteria, and other microorganisms, have evolved genes for toxins. Often the plasmids that carry the genes encoding these toxins also carry genes conferring on its host immunity to that particular toxin. This is advantageous since obviously the toxin-secreting organism must have some mechanism to avoid the toxicity of its own toxin if the organism is to successfully populate the ecological niche it has cleared for itself.
Effective strategies to control crown gall by using biocontrol agents to control Agrobacterium growth are now known to exist. One problem associated with combating crown gall disease, however, is that different Agrobacterium species normally inhabit and attack plants in differing ecological micro-zones of the plant, as well as different plant species. For example, Agrobacterium rhizogenes normally lives in the root environment (the rhizosphere) of plants and attacks plant roots, while Agrobacterium tumefaciens normally attacks and infects plant stems or crowns. As a result, biocontrol strategies for crown gall disease must be focused on the micro-environment of the particular plant species and strains of Agrobacterium sought to be suppressed.
Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain K84, for example, is the most studied crown gall biological control strain and is commercially utilized for disease control on stone fruits worldwide. Strain K84 biological control is thought to be primarily due to the production of two plasmid-encoded antibiotics, agrocins 84 and 434, encoded by genes on pAgK84 and pAgK434 respectively, each of which accounts for a portion of the observed disease control. Agrocin 84, an adenine analog, is effective against tumorigenic strains carrying nopaline/agrocinopine pTi plasmids, and requires the accC gene in the target strain for activity. Agrocin 434, a di-substituted cytidine analog, is effective against, and specific for, a broad range of A. rhizogenes strains. The commercial application of the K84 biological control system, however, is limited to stone fruits as pathogenic Agrobacterium strains of other crops are not inhibited by K84.
With respect to the Agrobacterium vitis strains, the causative agents of grapevine crown gall, no effective preventative control measures are commercially available. One prior attempt to use a biocontrol technique to combat crown gall in grape was based on the Agrobacterium vitis bacterial strain F2/5. Strain F2/5 is a non-tumorigenic Agrobacterium strain which may be applied to grapevines to occupy the ecological niches that might otherwise be occupied by tumorigenic strains. This strategy has met with some success, but the success is both grape-specific, i.e. does not work on other plant species, and is variable depending on the identity of the virulent A. vitis strain causing the disease. For example, F2/5 is ineffective on non-grapevine host plants, such as Nicotiana glauca, sunflower or tomato, and ineffective against various pathogenic A. vitis strains, such as CG78, as well as other A. tumefaciens biovars.
What is needed is a biocontrol agent with a broader target range to help control crown gall disease and, in particular, crown gall disease in grape plants.

Biological control of crown gall disease


A teleconferencing system (100, 100') provides a wide aspect ratio view at each site utilizing a single NTSC camera (250, 350) and projector (260,360). At the transmitting end of a teleconference, a transformation element (280, 380, 510, 610) maps a wide aspect ratio field of view into the field of view of an NTSC camera. The transformation is reversed at the receiving end of the teleconferencing system.

The goal of a video teleconferencing system is to bring teleconferencing participants as "close together" as possible. Ideally, the effect obtained in a good teleconferencing system should be one of "being there".
The traditional video teleconference facility puts extreme limitations on the normal human protocols for interaction. Most traditional teleconference facilities offer some version of NTSC video which is displayed on a small-sized, home-television-like monitor. When the number of teleconference participants at the sending end of a conference is larger than one, the image of each participant occupies a small portion of an already small viewing area. As a result, it becomes difficult for viewers at the receiving end of such a teleconference to pick up non-verbal cues from a speaker's face and body. Indeed, in many cases, it is often difficult to discern at the receiving end who of the many participants at the sending end is actually talking.
To overcome this problem, it is desirable for a video teleconferencing facility to replace the conventional monitor with a larger monitor which provides a wide aspect ratio, panoramic view of the remote teleconferencing site. An ordinary NTSC monitor is relatively square, having an aspect ratio which is four units in the horizontal direction to three units in the vertical direction (i.e., 4.times.3=1.33.times.1). Because of this, it is not desirable to simply replace the conventional small-sized teleconference monitor with a large-sized monitor having the same NTSC aspect ratio. The reason is that in many cases a plurality of teleconference participants at a remote site sit side-by-side. When an image of the remote site is locally displayed on an NTSC monitor of any size, good interaction with the participants at the remote site is not achieved, as the relatively square aspect ratio of the NTSC monitor does not permit a wide enough view of the remote conference site. Accordingly, it is desirable to replace the small-sized NTSC monitor of the conventional teleconference facility with a monitor having a wide aspect ratio screen, specifically, a screen with a wider aspect ratio than the conventional NTSC monitor.
One way to achieve a wide aspect ratio display for a teleconferencing facility is to utilize High Definition Television (HDTV) equipment. An HDTV monitor has an aspect ratio of 16.times.9 (1.78.times.1) which is wider than the NTSC aspect ratio of 4.times.3 (1.33.times.1). Unfortunately, the high cost and large transmission bandwidth (approximately 622 Mbp/s for digital transmission and 30 MHz for analog transmission) and the requirement for large lighting levels at the conference sites make presently available HDTV equipment unsuitable for most teleconferencing applications.
Another approach for achieving a teleconferencing system with wide aspect ratio displays is to equip each teleconference station with a plurality of NTSC video cameras, each generating an NTSC video signal corresponding to a sub-image. For example, two NTSC cameras can be positioned so that their fields of view are side by side. Each of the cameras produces a sub-image which by its itself has a 4.times.3 aspect ratio. The individual sub-images are each transmitted via an individual transmission channel to a remote teleconference site. At the remote teleconference site, multiple projectors are aligned to display the sub-images on a screen in a side-by-side fashion. The net result is a combined image having a wide aspect ratio of 8.times.3.
There are several problems associated with the use of a plurality of NTSC cameras to produce a single wide aspect ratio video image. One problem is that the multiple cameras cannot simply be placed side by side. Such an arrangement of cameras results in a complicated overlapping of the fields of view of the individual cameras so that there are some spatial locations which are in the field of view of no camera and some spatial locations which are in the field of view of more than one camera. To overcome this problem, sophisticated optical and/or electronic arrangements may be utilized to insure that the fields of view of the multiple cameras merge continuously into a single field of view (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,314). Similarly, the multiple projectors at the display end must be precisely positioned so that the individually displayed sub-images merge to form a single combined image. Thus, this approach to wide aspect ratio video teleconferencing requires precision mechanical alignments which are vulnerable to slight physical perturbations of either the cameras or the projectors. The net result is a fragile system requiring frequent maintenance. Multiple cameras and projectors also have the tendency to exhibit color and image size variations causing distortions in the merged sub-images. With multiple cameras, projectors and transmission channels, the overall system becomes expensive to own and operate.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a video teleconferencing system, utilizing a wide aspect ratio display at each teleconferencing site, which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art systems. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a teleconferencing system which provides a wide aspect ratio display at each site utilizing a single NTSC camera and projector at each site.

Video teleconferencing system employing aspect ratio transformation


A 3D printer for a metal alloy filament is provided in which, in order to prevent the oxidation of a metal alloy laminate, an inert gas is introduced, the outside and heat and air are blocked, and a metal alloy filament that is melted in a nozzle and extruded is laminated one layer at a time on a floor plate installed inside a heated chamber and moving three-dimensionally with respect to the nozzle, in order to firmly attach the filament having little deformation.

Traditional 3D printers create a 3D structure by melting and extruding a thermoplastic filament or a metal alloy filament provided to a nozzle heated by means of a heater or high frequency induction heating, and by piling up the melted and extruded filament layer upon layer on a floor plate.
(Patent Document 1) Patent Publication No. CN 201510790500
(Patent Document 2) Patent No. CN 103786344 A


A display panel and a display unit are provided that allow a high-contrast and a bright image to be obtained. A display panel is composed of a light modulation device. The light modulation device includes: an electrode capable of generating a main electric field in a direction parallel to a plane intersecting with a normal line of a transparent substrate; and a light modulation layer including a bulk and a particulate each having an optical anisotropy. Optical axes AX1 and AX2 of the bulk and the particulate are parallel or substantially parallel to a top surface of the transparent substrate, and may be faced in different directions from each other and may be faced in same or substantially same directions with each other within the plane parallel or substantially parallel to the top surface of the transparent substrate depending on a magnitude of the electric field generated by the electrode.

The present invention is related to a display panel and a display unit that include a light modulation device exhibiting the scattering property or transparency to light.
In recent years, the demand for a display unit in use for mobile devices such as cellular phone and electronic paper has increased, and a reflection-type display unit has drawn attention. The reflection-type display unit carries out a display by reflecting incident light from the outside using a reflecting plate, eliminating the need for a backlight. Therefore, electric power consumed by a backlight is saved, which makes it possible to drive mobile devices for a longer period of time as compared with a case of using a transmission-type display unit. Further, disuse of a backlight allows weight saving and miniaturization accordingly.
For the reflection-type display unit, however, it is not easy to enhance the contrast, and thus various methods have been proposed in the past. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes to mount a retardation plate between a substrate and a polarization plate that hold a liquid crystal layer in between when a liquid crystal panel is used for a display panel.


An adaptor is provided for a vehicle load bed having stake pockets along lateral edges. The adaptor allows pallets having indented peripheries to roll over the bed and to be locked in place on the bed. The adaptor has a base lying on the bed and guides in the form of upright walls disposed along lateral edges of the base. The guides keep the pallet on the bed as the pallet rides along the bed. Stakes on the bottom of the base are locked into the pockets to retain the adaptor to the bed. Extending from the walls are lips disposed over the pallet so as to limit or eliminate the pallet's vertical travel. The pallets ride on elongate rollers journalled between roller supports. The supports are fixed on the base parallel to the walls. Apertures of the same shape are defined both in the lips and the base and are aligned with one another. To fix the pallets to the adaptor, locking members are passed through the lip apertures, fit with indents of the pallets and passed through the base apertures.

A common problem in military logistics is cargo packaging or pallets suitable for one cargo vehicle but not suitable another cargo vehicle. In particular, the U.S. Army has problems in accepting loads on its land vehicles that are packaged for air travel.
I have invented an adaptor that addresses this problem. The adaptor fits a standard cargo bed having stake pockets disposed along lateral edges of the bed. The adaptor allows the cargo bed to hold air cargo pallets having spaced indents about their peripheries. In particular, the adaptor will allow the cargo bed of the U.S. Army's Palletized Loading System (PLS) to accept the U.S. Air Force's 463L pallets. The adaptor allows palletized loads to ride on rollers along the length of the cargo bed and guides the load in a straight path along the bed. Once the load is in a desired position, the adaptor can quickly fix the pallet relative to the cargo bed.
The adaptor has a base lying on the load bed and it has stakes that closely fit in the pockets of the bed. Guides along the adaptor's lateral edges limit sideways slip of the pallet as the pallet rides along the bed. Extending inward of the adaptor from the guides are lips which limit vertical travel of the pallet. The pallet rides on a set of rollers journalled to roller supports, which are generally parallel to the guides. The lips and base define similarly shaped apertures that are aligned with one another. When locking members pass through the lip and base apertures, they also fit indents on the pallets. Consequently, the pallets are prevented from riding further over the load bed.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A method for operating a drive device with an internal combustion engine and an exhaust gas turbocharger associated with an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine is connected to an intake tract provided with a throttle valve. A specified ignition point is determined from a rotational speed of an internal combustion engine. At the same time with a target load jump of the internal combustion engine from an actual torque to a target torque with a full opening of the throttle valve by setting a first target ignition point which is later than the specified ignition point, a target reserve is built up and the actual torque is increased at the same time. The target reserve is used prior to reaching the target torque with the actual torque by setting a second target ignition point which is earlier than the first ignition point, and in addition is used to increase the actual torque.

The drive device serves to provide a drive torque, which is directed for example to drive a motor vehicle. In the latter case, the drive device is assigned to the motor vehicle or installed in it. In order to provide the drive torque, the drive device is provided with the internal combustion engine which provides the drive torque at its crankshaft. To increase the power and/or to increase the efficiency of the internal combustion engine, the latter is assigned to an exhaust gas turbocharger. The exhaust gas turbocharger is provided with a turbine as well as with a compressor, which are preferably mechanically coupled to each other. Other coupling types can be also realized. For example, the turbine and the compressor can be coupled electrically. As an alternative, the mechanical coupling can be provided so that it can be electrically supported by the exhaust gas turbocharger. In this case, an electric machine is operationally connected to the compressor, which can be operated to support the condenser.
To the exhaust gas turbocharger is supplied the exhaust gas that is generated by the internal combustion engine during its operation. The turbine uses the enthalpy contained in the exhaust gas and/or the flow energy of the exhaust gas to operate the condenser. This in turn compresses fresh gas, and it thus brings it from a first pressure level to a higher second pressure level in order to supply it subsequently to the internal combustion engine. Under the term fresh gas is to be understood for example fresh air, a mixture of exhaust gas and fresh air, and the like.
The fresh gas that is condensed by means of the condenser is supplied to the intake tract of the internal combustion engine. In this internal combustion engine is provided a throttle valve. The throttle valve serves to adjust the exhaust gas mass flow supplied to the internal combustion engine. The throttle valve or the degree of opening of the throttle valve is adjusted according to the operating point of the internal combustion engine. The operating point is characterized for instance by the actual rotational speed of the internal combustion engine and/or by the actual torque of the internal combustion engine that is in fact provided by the internal combustion engine.
During the operation of the internal combustion engine it is necessary to ignite the fresh gas-fuel mixture introduced into at least one cylinder of the internal combustion machine. This is carried out at a determined actual igniting point. This refers to a point in time at which the igniting of the mixture in fact takes place. On the other hand, at the internal combustion engine is set a target ignition point. It is evident that minor deviations may occur that will be within the tolerances.
The actual ignition point is determined for example from the specified ignition point. This specified ignition point is determined from the actual rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. Normally, the earlier the specified ignition point, the higher the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. This is due to the fact that the mixture located in the cylinder requires a certain period of time for the actual ignition and/or combustion. In order to achieve the desired effect within the context of the combustion, in particular a certain gas pressure in the cylinder, the specified ignition point and ideally also the target ignition point must be adapted to the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. The specified ignition point is thus to this extent present at least as a function of the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. In a normal operation of the internal combustion engine or of the drive device, the target ignition point corresponds to the specified ignition point.
As the degree of charging of the internal combustion engine is increased while the cylinder capacity is at the same time reduced, the spontaneity of the internal combustion engines deteriorates noticeably. The difference between the point in time of the specification of a target torque and the point in time at which the drive device or the internal combustion engine provides an actual torque corresponding to this desired torque is thus increased. This effect is also known as "turbo lag". For this reason, it can be provided at least in one operating state of the drive device that the exhaust gas charger is biased, which is to say that the drive device is operated in such a way as if the actual torque is the same as the as the one provided when the charging pressure is increased by the condenser, so that the consequent increase of the rotational speed of the combustion engine can take place faster.
From prior art is known for example the document DE 10 2005 005 559 A1. This document relates to a method for operating an internal combustion engine, in particular a gasoline engine, in particular of a motor vehicle which is provided with a gas exhaust turbocharger, wherein the internal combustion engine is in the operating state "idle" operated with a specified idle rotational speed and with respect to the fuel consumption or to idle operations with optimized idle operation parameters, in particular for the ignition point and for fuel injection. In this manner, at least in one partial portion of the operating state "idle", the rotational speed of the exhaust gas turbocharger is increased at least in a temporal subregion of the operating state "idle" by setting a operating parameter of the internal combustion engine with gas exhaust enthalpy that deviates from idle operating parameters.
Furthermore, the document DE 10 2011 107 A1 discloses a method and an arrangement for operating a drive train of a motor vehicle, the document DE 10 2009 020 536 A1 discloses a method for managing transitions to lean air/fuel with a coordinated torque control, the document DE 42 32 973 A1 discloses a method for adjusting the torque of a gasoline engine during a switching step, the document DE 10 2013 111 358 A1 discloses a method and a device for controlling an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle and the document DE 10 2014 220 400 A1 discloses a method for determining a torque reserve.

Method for setting an ignition point of a drive device and a corresponding drive device utilizing the method


A method and device for stabilizing slopes that are at or near failure preferably due to a shallow, translational slides. Once a target slope has been identified, a plurality of plate piles is inserted into the entire at-risk slope to stabilize the slope. The plate piles preferably consist of a steel plate attached to an angle. The plate piles are inserted below the soil surface, with the pile extending into the bedrock, preferably in a diamond-shaped lattice pattern over the entire slope.

Shallow, colluvial landslides are a common occurrence in many areas. This type of slope failure requires preventative action for both stability and aesthetic reasons, especially around existing homes. Many of existing methods of landslide mitigation and slope stabilization are aimed at stabilizing large slopes with large project volumes and costs. An effective, relatively small-scale method for stabilizing shallower, colluvial hillsides that are at or near failure is needed.
Research on mitigation techniques for shallow, colluvial landslides has seen some interest from the geotechnical community in the past 20 years, although most research has been performed on the predictive analysis of these types of slides (e.g. Aubeny and Lytton, 2004; Cho and Lee, 2002; Collins and Znidarcic, 2004; Iverson, 2000). While predictive analysis techniques are an important aspect of understanding slope stability behavior, they do not always assist communities faced with impending landslides. Instead, a method of preventing or arresting the movement of the slope mass is needed.
Existing methods of landslide mitigation have been summarized by Rogers (1992). They include excavation and recompaction, conventional retention structures, subdrainage, soil reinforcement using geomembranes and geosynthetics, mechanically stabilized embankments, and combination mechanically stabilized retention structures.
Unfortunately, most of these mitigation options are not applicable to shallow translational slides, mainly due to economic considerations. Retention structures, soil reinforcement options, mechanically stabilized embankments, and combination structures all require large volumes of earthworks in addition to comparatively expensive and time consuming installation methods. These techniques require excessive effort and time that is not warranted when mitigating shallow landslides that are small in area, on the order of only several tens of square yards. For these types of slides, only excavation and subdrainage techniques are applicable. However, these techniques require a substantial on-site and slope renovating presence. The present invention minimizes the need for large machinery and thereby allows slopes stabilization behind existing homes, and in other areas with limited access. Further, the method may be rapidly deployed so that slides may be prevented prior to full mobilization of the slide mass.
Others, such as Ito et al. (1981, 1982), have addressed rotational landslides. These deep landslides have been mitigated with extremely long (25 to 100 feet) columns (piles) placed in a portion of the potential slide area, generally at the toe of the slope to lock down the base of the potential slide. However, these long, heavy piles are inappropriate for shallow, translational slides. The present invention allows for locking down the entire potential slide area by placing relatively small, lightweight plate piles throughout the entire potential slide area.
Patents have issued describing some of the above-mentioned techniques. Devices and techniques for large scale slope stabilization are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,588 issued to Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,706 issued to Segrestin et al., German patent number DE 4226067 issued to Hermann, and Japanese patent number JP 57071931 issued to Yoshihisa. These large-scale retaining walls require the use of heavy equipment, and are unsuitable for stabilizing smaller, less accessible slopes.
Other patents deal with stabilizing soil that is adjacent to water; for example U.S. Pat. No. 1,073,278 issued to Mosher, U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,561 issued to Reid, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,686 issued to Veazey. However, these patents do not specifically address slope stabilization of colluvial, sloping soil masses.
Still other patents describe the use of posts or anchors. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 1,408,332 issued to Zimmerman, U.S. Pat. No. 1,433,621 issued to Hutton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,190 issued to Goodman, U.S. Pat. No. 1,109,020 issued to Skiff et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,625 issued to Thornton, and D334,121 issued to Van Handel III. These patents all assume that the piles will be used in conjunction with fencing. None of these patents teach the technique of placing stabilizing plate piles in a manner to prevent or reduce shallow colluvial landslides.

Method and device for stabilizing slopes


A device is disclosed which includes a base and a pair of substantially vertical members supported by the base. A horizontal member extends substantially horizontally between the vertical members. A first mechanism selectively adjusts the vertical position of the horizontal member, while a second mechanism selectively adjusts the horizontal position of the vertical members to define a first projectile target area. A target loop is mounted to the horizontal member within the first projectile target area and defines a second projectile target area. A third mechanism is provided for selectively adjusting the position of the target loop along the horizontal member between the vertical members. Finally, an arm extension attaches the target loop to the horizontal member and includes a fourth mechanism for variably adjusting the distance between the target loop and the horizontal member within the first projectile target area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sport training and game playing devices utilizing an airborne projectile and, more particularly, to a device wherein one or more individuals may either play a game or practice skills in a sport using a projectile such as a football, baseball, Frisbee and the like. Specifically, the present invention relates to a football training or playing system wherein an individual may practice throwing and kicking skills individually or by interacting with other participants.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of recreational games and various practice devices relating to a wide variety of different sports is well known. The game devices are designed for recreational amusement and tend to mimic some of the movements of well-known sports. Examples of such devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,471, No. 4,592,555 and No. 6,338,686 wherein known movements from basketball and/or football are combined with other movements to provide recreational amusement devices.
Other devices and assemblies are designed not to necessarily provide amusement, but rather to provide a practice device for one or more sport movements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,132 provides a device to improve basketball-shooting skills, U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,147 provides a device to improve soccer kicking skills, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,846 provides a device to help practice and improve football-kicking skills. U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,992, No. 6,220,976, No. 6,375,585 and No. 6,394,917 all provide different types of football goal post devices designed to enhance one's football kicking skills. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,787, No. 4,168,066, No. 4,826,166, No. 4,936,578, No. 5,037,095 and No. 6,620,065 are all designed to enable a person to practice and thereby enhance their football passing skill. U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,862 provides a target device that is designed to enable a person to practice both football passing and kicking skills as well as football hiking skills.
While the above devices enable a person to achieve a desired end purpose of either a skill practice or recreational amusement, none of them combine both sport skill practice with a game device designed for recreational amusement. Moreover, all of the above devices are designed for use by one participant. Unfortunately, many of the above mentioned sport skills involve two or more parties participating interactivity in the real world of sports, and none of the above devices address this issue. For example, the act of football passing requires that the ball actually be received by a target, not just thrown along a particular path, and the target is oftentimes moving. None of the above devices address this issue. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for such a device, and the present invention addresses and solves this particular problem in the art.


A die transfer system that includes a lower die, an upper die carried for reciprocal movement toward and away from the lower die to perform at least one operation on a workpiece positioned therebetween, and a conveyor arrangement for sequentially conveying workpieces between the dies. The conveyor arrangement includes a hollow tubular transfer bar having at least one hand for engaging workpieces. The transfer bar is operatively coupled to an arrangement for reciprocating the transfer bar in at least one direction relative to the lower die. A mass is resiliently suspended within the transfer bar for vibrating with the transfer bar out of phase to vibrations in the transfer bar, and thereby countercyclically damping vibrations in the transfer bar.

In so-called progressive die systems, workpieces formed from strip stock remain attached to webs that extend along lateral edges of the pieces to facilitate indexing of the workpieces through successive stages of the die assembly. Although such arrangements facilitate conveyance of workpieces through the die stations, they possess the disadvantage that the workpiece must be formed in a linear array at spaced locations along the strip stock, leading to substantial inefficiency and waste. Furthermore, the fact that all workpieces remain interconnected during at least a major portion of the die operation can lead to difficulty and inefficiency in performing operations on the workpieces at a given station. For these reasons and others, so-called die transfer systems have been developed in which the workpieces are pre-separated and fed as individual units of the die arrangement. A die transfer system of this character permits more efficient use of the strip stock material, and also permits greater flexibility in operations that can be performed at the individual die stations. However, the conveyor arrangement for indexing individual workpieces through a die transfer system is more complex than those in typical progressive die systems, usually involving release and reengagement with the workpieces at each of the individual die stations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,874, assigned to the assignee hereof, discloses a die transfer system that includes a lower die, an upper die carried for reciprocal vertical movement toward and away from the lower die to perform at least one operation on a workpiece positioned therebetween, and a conveyor arrangement for sequentially conveying workpieces between the dies. The conveyor arrangement has a pair of conveyors disposed on opposite lateral sides of the lower die. Each conveyor includes a plurality of hands for gripping workpieces, with the hands being spaced from each other lengthwise of the conveyor by distances corresponding to stations of the die. Each conveyor and its associated hands are indexed in a longitudinal direction through the die between stations in synchronism with motion of the upper die. The hands are moved simultaneously in at least one direction perpendicular to the longitudinal indexing direction by a camshaft that extends through the stations along an axis parallel to the indexing direction. A cam is mounted on each camshaft for rotation with the camshaft in synchronism with motion of the upper die. A follower arrangement couples each cam to the hands of the associated conveyor, so that reciprocal rotation of the camshaft about its axis results in reciprocal motion of the hands in one or more directions lateral to the longitudinal direction of conveyance of workpieces through the die stations. The conveyor camshafts are rotated by cam-and-follower arrangements coupled to the upper die, or by electric servo motors controlled by a master controller.
U.S. application Ser. No. 08/549,329, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,787, issued Dec. 28, 1997, assigned to the assignee hereof, discloses a die transfer system that includes a camshaft having an axis of rotation parallel to the direction of movement of workpieces through the die system, a transfer bar parallel to the camshaft axis carrying a plurality of hands for engaging the workpieces, and a cam arrangement coupling the camshaft to the transfer bar for moving the transfer bar both horizontally and vertically orthogonal to the camshaft axis. The cam arrangement includes a cam arm coupled to the camshaft and having a pair of angularly spaced drive rollers mounted thereon. Separate horizontal and vertical cam follower slots are disposed adjacent to the cam arm for sequential driving engagement by the rollers on the cam arm, such that rotation of the camshaft and cam arm brings the rollers into sequential engagement with the cam follower slots for driving the transfer bar horizontally and vertically with respect to the lower die.
Although the die transfer systems and indexing conveyor arrangements disclosed in the noted patent and application address and overcome problems and deficiencies theretofore extant in the art, further improvements remain desirable. For example, the indexing conveyors disclosed in the noted patent and application, as well as conveyors of conventional designs, typically are constructed such that the ends of the transfer bars are cantilevered from the supports that couple the transfer bar to the reciprocation drives. The transfer bar ends thus are subject to cyclic vibrations during operation. It is a general object of the present invention to provide facility by means of which such vibrations, particularly vibrations in the vertical direction, are countercyclically damped at one or both ends of the transfer bar.

Indexing conveyer for a die transfer system having countercyclic vibration damping on the transfer bar