A power management apparatus (EMS 200) activates an acquisition function when it is determined at each time point in a predetermined period that an integral power consumption exceeds a predetermined power consumption.

Recently, there has been a raised awareness of environmental concern, and a technology is proposed for restraining an amount of power consumption of a load.
Although greatly depending on the electric power circumstance in each country, a total electric power rate of a high-voltage receiver in Japan is determined by a basic rate and a power consumption rate, for example. The basic rate is determined, for example, on the basis of an integral power consumption (peak power demand) supplied from a grid in a predetermined period (for example, 30 minutes) in the past. On the other hand, the power consumption rate is determined on the basis of an amount of power to be consumed in a calculation target period. Therefore, it is preferable to control the amount of power consumption of each load so that the integral power consumption does not exceed a predetermined power consumption.
In this case, a technology is proposed which presents to a user an alarm indicating that the amount of power consumption should be restrained so that an integral power consumption of power supplied from a grid in a predetermined period does not exceed a predetermined power consumption. Specifically, on the basis of an amount of power supplied from a grid that increases for each unit time (hereinafter, a unit-time increased amount), an integral power consumption at the expiration timing of a predetermined period is predicted, and when the predicted integral power consumption exceeds a predetermined power consumption, an alarm indicating that the amount of power consumption should be restrained is presented to a user (for example, Patent Literature 1).
In the above-described technology, in order to acquire a breakdown of the integral power consumption, it may be considered to acquire amounts of power consumption of a plurality of loads connected to a grid. When the breakdown of the integral power consumption is acquired, it becomes possible to control the load so that the integral power consumption at the expiration timing of a predetermined period does not exceed a predetermined power consumption.
In such a case, it is necessary to acquire the amount of power consumption of a plurality of loads in a predetermined interval. Here, when a predetermined interval is shorter, a frequency of acquiring an amount of power consumption of a load increases, and power consumption necessary to acquire an amount of power consumption of a load (measure and report an amount of power consumption of a load) increases. On the other hand, when a predetermined interval is longer, the power consumption necessary to acquire an amount of power consumption of a load (measure and report an amount of power consumption of a load) decreases, and the frequency of acquiring the amount of power consumption of a load decreases.

Power management apparatus and power management method


An electromagnetic signal horn of a type including a housing, a membrane whose peripheral edge is attached to the housing and which with the housing defines a chamber, an electromagnetic motor arranged in the chamber, and a magnetic core arranged in the chamber with an attaching pin thereof extending through a central opening of the membrane, with a coupling channel thereof, for coupling the chamber with outside atmosphere, being partially defined by a radial recess at the central opening of the membrane, wherein the central opening is four-sided, or square, for simplifying and economizing its fabrication, with a spacing between opposite sides of the central opening being the same, or only slightly larger than, a diameter of the attaching pin.

This invention concerns an electromagnetic signal horn of a type including a housing, a membrane whose peripheral edge is attached to the housing and which with the housing defines a chamber, an electromagnetic motor arranged in the chamber, and a magnetic core arranged in the chamber with an attaching pin thereof extended through a central opening of the membrane, with a coupling channel thereof, for coupling the chamber with outside atmosphere, being partially defined by a radial recess at the central opening of the membrane.
Such a signal horn is disclosed in german publication 17 66 098. The coupling channel of this known signal horn is partially formed as a radial recess extending from a central opening of the membrane and radial slits in each of two intermediate discs, the discs respectively lying on both sides the membrane.
This known electromagnetic signal horn, however, has disadvantages. That is, when a magnetic core thereof is coupled to the membrane and the intermediate discs are mounted one must be careful that the orientations of the slits of the intermediate discs correspond to the orientation of the radial recess of the central opening of the membrane. This can only be assured, if it can be assured at all, with large fabrication expenditures.
If the above described orientations are not carefully maintained during fabrication, it is possible that the coupling channel will be blocked so that an air exchange between a chamber defined by the membrane in the housing with surrounding atmosphere cannot be assured. In this case, the disadvantages will exist in this prior art device which are particularly intended to be overcome by the device.
German Offenlegungsschrift DE 30 44 555 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,099 describe electromagnetic signal horns which likewise have coupling channels for coupling chambers with outside atmosphere. In these known signal horns axially extending grooves are provided in attaching pins for this purpose. These known signal horns are necessarily relatively expensive to manufacture because inclusion of such a groove, or flute, in an attaching pin of the magnetic core requires additional fabrication expense, particularly if the magnetic core is forged as one piece with the attaching pin from one piece of material.
An object of this invention is to provide a signal horn which can be technically manufactured by uncomplicated and cost-effective measures to have a coupling channel for coupling the chamber with surrounding atmosphere, thereby making air exchange between the chamber and surrounding atmosphere possible.


A process for purifying an acetylene-terminated polyimide oligomer containing residual solvent in which the oligomer is initially dissolved in the same solvent used as the reaction medium in its synthesis. After precipitating the oligomer from solution by mixing with an aqueous solution of potassium or sodium chloride, the precipitated oligomer is washed successively with a plurality of liquids of decreasing polarity to provide an oligomer free of residual solvent.

Acetylene-terminated polyimide oligomers show promise as matrix resins for advanced aircraft and aerospace systems. The materials have the potential of curing without the evolution of volatile by-products, thereby obviating the problem of void formation in composite structures and molded articles. Unfortunately, the oligomers normally contain residual amounts of the solvent employed in their synthesis. During curing operations, voids are formed in the composites or molded objects as a result of the volatilization of the residual solvent.
It is a principal object of this invention, therefore, to purify acetylene-terminated polyimide oligomers by removing residual solvent therefrom.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying disclosure.

Purification of acetylene-terminated polyimide oligomers

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


A scabbard for sheathing an intermediate force weapon such as an expandable tactical baton includes a front pocket for holding the baton when in the retracted position and rear pocket for holding the baton when in the fully extended, expanded position. The scabbard is designed such that it may be worn on the belt of law enforcement personnel in a position permitting a quick draw of the baton to a ready position whether or not the baton is contracted or expanded. A unidirectional fastener is utilized to guard against accidental release of the scabbard from the belt when the scabbard is properly installed and properly utilized by law enforcement personnel.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally related to a sheath for carrying a retractable tool mechanism and is specifically directed to a scabbard for carrying a tactical baton for use by law enforcement personnel.
2. Background of the Invention
Over the last several years, it has become desirable for law enforcement personnel to carry with them at all times intermediate force weapons. The weapon of choice is an extendable tactical baton which is light-weight, easy-to-carry, may be worn at the belt of the law enforcement personnel and may be quickly drawn to a ready position. An example of such a tactical baton is the ASP Tactical Baton manufactured by Armament Systems and Procedures, Inc., the assignee of the subject invention. The ASP Baton is made of a plurality of telescoping elements which may be retracted into the handle providing a cylindrical retracted baton of approximately seven inches in length by one inch in diameter. When extended, the baton is approximately 20 inches in length.
Typically, the law enforcement personnel will carry the baton on his person in its retracted condition and will draw the baton from a holster across his body into an at-ready position. The drawing and snapping action extends the baton to its fully expanded position. The baton may be resheathed or holstered by retracting it and replacing it in the belt scabbard carried by the law enforcement personnel.
In many applications, it is desirable to be able to stow the baton while in its fully expanded condition. Heretofore, holsters, sheaths or scabbards for stowing the baton have not been adapted for receiving the baton while in its expanded position.
Examples of sheaths for dual purpose uses are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,819 entitled "SHEATH FOR A RETRACTABLE KNIFE" issued to W. Collins on Feb. 21, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. Des. D140,745 entitled "SCABBARD OR THE LIKE" issued to W. Fairbairn et al on Apr. 3, 1945; and U.S. Pat. No. 985,499 entitled "CARTRIDGE BELT OR CARRIER" issued to F. Batchelder on Feb. 28, 1911. In particular, the Collins patent shows a sheath for housing a retractable knife both in its retracted or unretracted position with a pair of pockets, one adapted for receiving the knife blade and a second adapted for receiving a knife when the blade is housed within its handle. The Batchelder patent shows a belt carrier having a plurality of parallel pockets for carrying gun cartriges and the like. The Fairbairn design patent illustrates a sheath having a plurality of different pockets for carrying a plurality of different implements or tools on the belt of the wearer.
While belt carried sheaths or scabbards are well known, none of the prior art scabbards are readily adaptable for properly carrying an intermediate force weapon in both its retracted position and its extended position in such a manner that the weapon may be quickly drawn to a ready position and quickly repositioned in the scabbard whether or not the weapon is in the contracted or fully extended position.


An apparatus for warming a towel or other article includes a cabinet having an open top and closed by hinged lid and a hollow rack is mounted within the cabinet. A towel to be warmed is draped over the rack. A portion of heated air is introduced through a conduit into one end of the rack and is discharged outwardly from the rack through a plurality of outlets into contact with the inner surface of the draped towel, while a second portion of heated air is directed upwardly by a baffle to the upper end of the cabinet and then downwardly along the outer surface of the towel. In the preferred form of the invention, air is supplied to the rack by a standard hair dryer, the outlet of which is connected to an end of the rack by a locking mechanism. The electric plug connected to the hair dryer cord is engaged with socket mounted on the cabinet and a thermostatic control is associated with the socket and acts to open the electrical circuit to the socket if the temperature in the cabinet exceeds a preselected upper limit.

Hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts are constantly seeking a product to meet the commercial market needs and provide a competitive edge. One product for creating a competitive edge is a towel warmer that is used to warm a towel in a relatively short period of time. Various types of towel warmers have been proposed in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,629 describes a towel warmer which is adapted to be suspended from a towel bar or other support and includes an electrical heating element which is mounted on the inner surface of a removable door in the bottom of the cabinet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,309 discloses an electric towel warmer including an inverted, U-shaped rack which extends upwardly from the bottom of the cabinet or housing and is adapted to support a towel to be warmed. An electric heating element having a sinuous configuration is mounted within the perforated rack. U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,146 describes a towel warmer having a cabinet formed of a pair of hinged sections. An electric heating element is located between the two sections of the cabinet and is covered by a fiber glass screen which acts to protect the towel support and the heating elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,610 shows a towel rack including a plurality of spaced parallel racks for supporting towels and heating elements located on either side of the heating chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,446 shows a towel warmer which incorporates a standard hair dryer. The outlet of the hair dryer is received within an opening in the lower end of the cabinet, and the heated air passes upwardly through a towel supported on a perforated divider shelf, with the air being vented through openings in the lid of the cabinet.

Towel warming cabinet with heated air from attached hair dryer circulating through towel rack and downwardly over the towel


An electric assembly includes a reverse conducting switching device and a rectifying device. The reverse conducting switching device includes transistor cells for desaturation configured to be, under reverse bias, turned on in a desaturation mode and to be turned off in a saturation mode. The rectifying device is electrically connected anti-parallel to the switching device. In a range of a diode forward current from half of a maximum rating diode current of the switching device to the maximum rating diode current, a diode I/V characteristic of the rectifying device shows a voltage drop across the rectifying device higher than a saturation I/V characteristic of the switching device with the transistor cells for desaturation turned off and lower than a desaturation I/V characteristic of the switching device with the transistor cells for desaturation turned on.

Reverse conducting switching devices, such as IGFETs (insulated gate field effect transistors) and RC-IGBTs (reverse conducting insulated gate bipolar transistors) include an integrated body diode, which is forward biased under reverse bias of the switching device. A pn junction of the forward biased body diode injects charge carriers of both conductivity types that flood the semiconductor portion of the switching device and build up a dense charge carrier plasma that results in low electric resistance of the reverse biased switching device.
When the bias changes from reverse to forward, the body diode blocks and a reverse recovery current relieves the charge carrier plasma. The reverse recovery current contributes to dynamic switching losses of the switching device. In a desaturation period preceding a commutation following a change from reverse bias to forward bias, some transistor cells turn on such that injection of charge carriers along the pn junction of the body diode is reduced and the charge carrier plasma attenuates before commutation. A safety period between the end of the desaturation period and the start of commutation allows the switching device to timely restore its blocking capability with closed gated channels before commutation. During the safety period the charge carrier plasma may partially recover such that the safety period foils to some degree the effect of the desaturation period.
It is desirable to improve the switching characteristics of reverse conducting switching devices in electronic circuits.

Electric assembly including a reverse conducting switching device and a rectifying device


The disclosure provides a method for detection of an uninitialized variable. The method includes running a first function, wherein the first function comprises a local variable and a first flag associated with the local variable for indicating an initialization state of the local variable; calling a second function from the first function, with the local variable as a parameter of the second function, wherein the second function comprises a second flag associated with the parameter for indicating an initialization state of the parameter; and updating the first flag based at least on the second flag returned from the second function.

The present disclosure relates to computer programming, and more specifically to detection of uninitialized variables.
In computer programming, an uninitialized variable is a variable that is declared but is not set to a definite value. During program execution, an uninitialized variable will generally have an unpredictable value. As such, a use of a variable before its initialization is a programming error and a common source of bugs in software, and will sometimes cause more severe results than software crash.
A compiler is a computer program that translates source code from a high level programming language to a lower level language such as assembly language or machine code. Some compilers provide functionality of detecting uninitialized variables and reporting them as compile-time errors. These compilers usually perform static data flow analysis on program source code at a compile time

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Runtime detection of uninitialized variable across functions

International Business Machines Corporation


The present disclosure is directed to a composition including a polyvinyl butyral represented by the following formula:

Solution processable conducting materials including metal nanoparticle inks play an important role in electronic device integrations. Silver nanoparticle inks, for example, can be easily dispersed in suitable solvents and used to fabricate various conducting features in electronic devices such as electrodes and electrical interconnectors by low-cost solution deposition and patterning techniques including ink jet printing technologies.
However, the conductive features formed from metal nanoparticle inks on suitable substrates must have sufficient adhesion and mechanical robustness characteristics to enable proper electronic device fabrications and functions. Unfortunately, adhesion of metal nanoparticle inks on certain substrates, such as glasses and polyimide, may not always be adequate for robust device fabrications.
The possibility of inadequate adhesion was tackled previously by adding a small amount of polymeric materials, such as polyvinyl butyral (PVB) resin, into silver conducting inks as an adhesion promoter. While this approach is suitable for some applications, a potential disadvantage of this method is that the electrical conductivity of printed conductive features from such inks could, in some instances, be decreased significantly. Therefore, it is desirable to develop effective methods to improve adhesion and enable formation of devices with robust mechanical properties without sacrificing electric conductivity of conducting materials, such as metal nanoparticle inks, which are used in electronic device applications.

Interlayer composition for electronic printing

Abstract: wherein A, B and C represent a proportion of corresponding repeat units expressed as a weight percent, wherein each repeat unit is randomly distributed along a polymer chain and wherein the sum of A, B and C is about 100 weight percent; a poly(melamine-co-formaldehyde) based polymer and an anhydride. Devices coated with the composition and cured films formed from the composition comprising conductive features are also provided.


A solid state reference electrode which is stable over a wide range of temperatures, pressures and chemical conditions is provided. The subject reference electrode comprises a zirconia or yttria stabilized zirconia tube having a distal, closed end and a proximal, open end. An opening in the distal end of the tube provides for ionic conduction between the electrolyte inside of the tube and fluid outside of the tube. Inside the tube is an electrolyte containing zirconia, alumina, potassium chloride and silica. Positioned in the electrolyte composition, near the proximal end of the zirconia tube, is a sensing element. A sealing means at the proximal end of the tube seals the inside of the tube and connects the tube to a stainless steel casing. An electrical lead extends from the sensing element through the sealing means. The electrode comprises means for maintaining a constant temperature in the region of the electrolyte composition occupied by the sensing element.

A variety of electrochemical applications are based on electrochemical cells which contain a reference electrode as one of the electrodes in the cell. The term "reference electrode" is used to refer to an electrode which provides a stable, constant potential regardless of the type, or concentration, of species present in the fluid in which the reference electrode is placed. Thus, one can detect meaningful changes in the potential of an indicator electrode which is paired with a reference electrode. These meaningful changes can be detected by comparing the changes in the paired indicator electrode to the constant potential of the reference electrode. These comparative changes can be used in detecting the presence of a wide variety of species in a solution, where the species influences the potential at the indicator electrode.
Many different reference electrode structures have been designed for use under a variety of conditions, e.g. temperature, pressure and chemical conditions. Exemplary reference electrodes include the hydrogen electrode, the calomel electrode and the silver/silver chloride electrode. Although each of these reference electrodes provides a constant potential in the environments for which they are designed, these electrodes have limitations as to the temperature, pressure and chemical conditions in which they may be employed. For example, hydrogen electrodes cannot be used in oxidizing or reducing environments, or in solutions which poison the metal of the electrode. Saturated calomel electrodes can be used with a wider array of solutions, but are limited to operation at room temperature because of chemical, mechanical and safety concerns.
Thus, there is continuing interest in the development of new reference electrode structures which are stable under a wide range of conditions. Such electrodes would not be limited to a particular use, thus allowing for greater flexibility in application.

Solid state reference electrode for high temperature electrochemical measurements


A speed measuring sensing device for producing a signal corresponding to the relative angular rotation between two structural members including a rotor arranged on the rotating member and a stator mounted on the stationary member. The stator is separated from the rotor by an air gap. The rotor includes a plurality of magnetizable sectors which vary the magnetic field while passing a pole shoe of the stator. The surface area of each of the magnetizable sectors of the rotor and the surface area of the pole shoe of the stator exhibit a maximum ratio of 1 to 1.

It will be appreciated that speed measuring sensors are used in various installations to monitor the rotational motion of shafts, axles and wheels, particularly, vehicles provided with anti-skid braking devices.
Such angular velocity measuring sensors primarily consist of a fixed electromagnetic stator and a movable rotor member which may be provided with openings, teeth or slots. The magnetic field generated by the electromagnet is repeatedly interrupted by the openings, teeth, or slots of the moving rotor which may be fixedly attached to the rotating wheel of the vehicle. Thus, the toothed rotor causes a periodic change in the magnetic flux which induces an electrical output signal in the stator winding. The frequency of the output signal is proportional to the angular velocity of the rotating wheel.
In order to obtain the strongest and most precise output signal possible, it is necessary that the dimension of the space or air gap between the pole shoe of the magnetic stator and the teeth of the rotor be very small and be held constant. If the width of the air gap changes during operation, spurious signals, i.e., erroneous information, will adversely affect the braking force control on the wheel in question in the vehicle anti-skid system. It will be appreciated that a change in the air gap can be caused in a speed sensor for wheeled vehicles by wear and play in the axle bearing or by vibrations, particularly during a braking operation. When the rotor approaches the stator, the amount of flux cutting the coil of the stator becomes greater, and hence, the electromagnetic field building up between the rotor and stator becomes stronger. Conversely, when the rotor moves or shifts away from the pole face of the stator, the electromagnetic field coupling the coil therefore becomes weaker.
A particular critical condition occurs when a fluctuation or change in the air gap is caused by mechanical vibrations of the rotor when the vehicle is stopped and the face of the pole shoe of the stator is situated opposite a magnetizable sector of the rotor. It has been found that a nonexistent rotational motion or false movement of the vehicle wheel is simulated by this condition.
Previous attempts have been made to eliminate such unwanted interference signals or perturbing voltages from occurring when the air gap varies. Various ways and means have been employed to prevent the occurrence of such perturbations or noise voltages. This was accomplished in prior art measuring sensing arrangements by employing a signal filtering network generally consisting of attenuating elements forming part of the electronic logic circuitry which is connected in series with the speed measuring sensor. An alternate method for handling such spurious noise or interference was to design the electromagnetic stator of the speed measuring sensor with three magnetic arms or legs. The two external arms of the E-shaped stator carry the signal windings while no winding is wound on the center leg or arm. Due to this special design of the stator structure, the changes in the magnetic reluctance caused in each case in the stator arms by rotation of the rotor member are shifted out of phase by about 180.degree. relative to each other. Conversely, any variation in the magnetic reluctance caused in the magnetic arms or legs by fluctuations in the width of the air gap are essentially in phase so that the output signals generated in the windings or coils is approximately zero in the case of vibrational changes.
It will be appreciated that these previous known measuring sensors are relatively complex in design and very expensive to manufacture.


Described are techniques for managing a wait queue in a system. A plurality of buckets associated with the wait queue are defined. Each of the plurality of buckets is associated with one of more queue depth values and one or more counters. For each received request for service, a current depth of the wait queue indicating a number of other requests included in the wait queue waiting to be serviced is determined, a bucket in accordance with the current depth of the wait queue is selected and information is recorded by updating said one or more counters of the bucket selected. The received request is placed in the wait queue if there is another request currently being serviced or if there is at least one other request currently in the wait queue.

1. Technical Field
This application generally relates to system monitoring, and more particularly to techniques used in connection with monitoring and management of data storage and other systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer systems may include different resources used by one or more host processors. Resources and host processors in a computer system may be interconnected by one or more communication connections. These resources may include, for example, data storage devices such as those included in the data storage systems manufactured by EMC Corporation. These data storage systems may be coupled to one or more host processors and provide storage services to each host processor. Multiple data storage systems from one or more different vendors may be connected and may provide common data storage for one or more host processors in a computer system.
A host processor may perform a variety of data processing tasks and operations using the data storage system. For example, a host processor may perform basic system I/O operations in connection with data requests, such as data read and write operations.
Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using a storage device containing a plurality of host interface units, disk drives, and disk interface units. Such storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek. The host systems access the storage device through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels to the storage device and storage device provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk drives of the storage device directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical disk units. The logical disk units may or may not correspond to the actual disk drives. Allowing multiple host systems to access the single storage device unit allows the host systems to share data stored therein.
In connection with a data storage system as well as other systems, data may be gathered to monitor the system performance. At defined time intervals or polling intervals, data, such as various counters or other metrics, may be gathered in order to gauge system performance. Complex systems, such as data storage systems, may include many components about which data is obtained at each sampling time. As the number of components increases, the amount of data which is gathered at each polling interval increases accordingly using more time and resources of the system to obtain the data about the system. Thus, it becomes more difficult to sample data at a high rate of frequency as the complexity of system increases.
One existing technique for evaluating the gathered data determines changes in counter values relative to the time difference between samplings. For example, an average value of a counter may be determined for a polling interval by determining a change in each counter value relative to the change in time since the last set of sample data was obtained. Use of the average values provides information regarding average performance during the polling interval but does not provide more detailed information about system activity and performance occurring within the polling interval. For example, if data is sampled every 10 minutes, counter values determined using the foregoing existing technique reflect an average for the 10 minute time period. The average counters do not provide further detail or breakdown as the activity level may vary within the 10 minute interval. If a burst of activity occurs during the first 5 minutes of the sampling period, the data gathered only provides an average and does not provide more detailed information regarding what actually occurred in the system during the first 5 minutes of the sampling period when activity may have been at its peak for the sampling period. Using the existing technique of averaging, the polling interval rate may be decreased to 5 minutes to collect such data. However, it may not be desirable or even possible to increase the polling frequency rate to obtain such information depending on the complexity of the system being monitored. Furthermore, existing techniques to collect the added data associated with increased polling frequency may interfere with normal system activity as well as create very large data files that may be cumbersome to process.
Thus, it may be desirable to utilize a technique for identifying an activity level distribution providing information about system performance during a polling interval independent of the polling interval time. The technique may provide information associated with varying levels of activity occurring during a polling interval.

Techniques for monitoring and managing wait queues


The present invention is directed toward an apparatus and method for providing mechanically pre-formed conductive leads. In one embodiment of the invention, an apparatus includes a forming chuck engageable with a first surface of a conductive sheet, and a receiving chuck engageable with a second surface of the conductive sheet opposite from the forming chuck. The forming chuck has a raised forming portion alignable with one or more lead members formed in the conductive sheet, and the receiving chuck has a receiving portion alignable with the forming portion and shaped to closely conform to at least part of the forming portion. The conductive sheet is compressed between the forming chuck and the receiving chuck to mechanically pre-form the one or more lead members into one or more pre-formed conductive leads. In one embodiment, the raised forming portion includes a ridge having a polygonal cross-sectional shape and the receiving portion comprises a channel. Alternately, the raised forming portion includes a partially-pyramidal block and the receiving portion comprises a pocket. In yet another embodiment, the raised forming portion includes a plurality of blocks and the receiving portion comprises a plurality of pockets. In still another embodiment of the invention, an apparatus includes a press coupled to the forming chuck that controllably engages the forming chuck against the conductive sheet. In another embodiment, an apparatus includes a handler for controllably positioning the conductive sheet before and after engagement with the forming and receiving chucks.

As the trend toward decreasing the size of microelectronic packages continues, manufacturing challenges are continuously encountered. One manufacturing challenge is the need for reliable lead bonding.
FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional elevational view of a typical micro-ball grid array (micro-BGA) package 10. The micro-BGA package 10 includes a die 12 having a plurality of bond pads 14 formed thereon. A spacing layer 16 (typically composed of an elastomer material) is formed on the die 12, and an interposer 18 (typically composed of a dielectric material, such as a polyimide tape) is formed on the spacing layer 16. An adhesive layer 20 is formed on the interposer 18.
The micro-BGA package 10 also includes a plurality of conductive leads 22. One end of each lead 22 is coupled to one of the bond pads 14, and the opposite end of the lead 22 terminates in a ball pad 24 that is coupled to the interposer 18 by the adhesive layer 20. An encapsulating material 26 is disposed over the conductive leads 22 and the exposed areas of the die 12 to seal and protect the leads 22 and die 12 from environmental elements. A conductive bump 28 (typically composed of solder) is formed on each ball pad 24. Finally, a coverlay 30 is formed at least partially over the micro-BGA package 10.
The micro-BGA package 10 may be coupled to an electrical circuit (not shown), such as a printed circuit board, by engaging the bumps 26 with corresponding contact pads on the circuit. Micro-BGA packages of the type shown in FIG. 1 are shown and described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,663,106 and 5,777,379 to Karavakis et al, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,608 to DiStefano et al, which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a partially-constructed micro-BGA package 10A of FIG. 1 prior to the addition of the encapsulating material 26, the coverlay 30, or the conductive bumps 28. Typically, the leads 22 are formed from a sheet of conductive material using standard cutting and etching processes to form a lead array 40. The lead array 40 includes a base 42, the plurality of conductive leads 22, which project from the base 42, and the ball pads 24, which are formed at the ends of the leads 22. Each lead 22 may include a frangible section 44. Processes for forming the lead array 40 are shown and described, for example, in International Patent Publication WO94/03036 published Feb. 3, 1994, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,239 to DiStefano et al, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The ball pads 24 and leads 22 are engaged with the adhesive layer 20 to couple the ball pads 24 and leads 22 to the interposer 18. Then the leads 22 are bonded to the bond pads 14 of the die 12. A bonding tool 50 is typically used to bond the leads 22 to the bond pads 14. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,239, the bonding tool 50 moves downwardly toward the die 12 until it engages the lead 22. The bonding tool 50 continues moving downwardly, snapping or breaking the frangible section 44 of the lead 22, and downwardly bending the lead 22 until the lead 22 engages the bond pad 14. The bonding tool 50 then bonds the leads 22 to the bond pads 14 in the conventional manner (e.g. thermally, ultrasonically, etc.).
Alternately, one or more of the leads 22 may be broken by depressing a cutting blade (not shown) against the leads 22, bending the leads 22 downwardly until the frangible sections 44 are snapped or broken, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,239. The bonding tool 50 is then applied to the lead 22 to continue bending the lead 22 downwardly until the lead 22 engages the bond pad 14 and is bonded into position.
One significant problem attributable to these manufacturing methods, however, is that the downward bending and snapping of the leads 22 during the bonding process can adversely effect the physical and electrical connections throughout the micro-BGA package 10. For example, the physical attachment of the ball pads 24 and the leads 22 with the adhesive layer 20 and the interposer 18 may be weakened or detached during the bending of the leads 22, and during the snapping of the frangible sections 44. Also, after one of the leads 22 is bent and bonded to the corresponding bond pad 14, the physical and electrical connection between the lead 22 and the bond pad 14 may be weakened or detached due to flexure of the micro-BGA package 10 (especially the elastomer spacing layer 16) as one or more adjacent leads 22 are being bent, snapped, and bonded to the associated bond pads 14.
Thus, the bending moments exerted on the leads 22, and the compressive forces of the bonding tool 50 on the leads 22, may be communicated throughout the micro-BGA package 10 as the leads 22 are snapped and bent into engagement with the bond pads 14. These forces and moments may adversely impact the physical and electrical connections between the components of the micro-BGA package 10, resulting in a significant rate of failure.

Apparatus and method for providing mechanically pre-formed conductive leads


A coring tool is lowered to the bottom of a wellbore through a subsurface formation. A coring bit at the lower end of the coring tool draws a core sample of the subsurface formation at the bottom of the wellbore into the coring tool. A coring barrel is positioned along the coring tool above and in juxtaposition with the coring bit. The core sample is drawn into a hollow cylindrical split member within the coring barrel, such member being split into two halves in an axial direction and comprised of a material effectively transparent to nuclear radiation. A wireline raises the split member containing the core sample upward through the coring tool to the surface of the earth. The core sample is tested for a nuclear radiation characteristic through the nuclear radiation transparent material of the split member at the well site. The split member is then reused to obtain a plurality of cores from the subsurface formation.

This invention relates to the bottom-hole coring of subsurface formations. Samples of earth material are taken from subsurface formations for various purposes. For example, samples are taken to obtain information concerning the chemical or physical characteristics of an earth material, such as permeability, porosity or fluid saturation. In the exploration for and production of oil and gas, samples of earth materials are taken ordinarily by means of a core drill and the samples obtained are in the form of cylinders or cores. Drilling muds with a water or oil base are commonly used as coring fluids. These drilling muds are normally formulated to provide desired density and rheological properties which make them particularly suitable for use in coring wells.
Slim hole drilling is receiving considerable attention as a method of reducing drilling costs in remote areas. It also has the advantage that a continuous core is retrieved. Such slim hole drilling is adequately described in (i) "Slim Hole Drilling--Conclusion" by K. B. Gunn, Oil & Gas Journal, May 13, 1991, pgs. 51-55, (ii) "Slimhole Continuous Coring and Drilling in Tertiary Sediments" by S. B. Randolph and A. P. Jourdan, SDE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, Mar. 11-14, 1991, paper no. 21906, (iii) "Mining Technique Finds Applications in Oil Exploration" by E. P. Deliac, J. P. Messines and B. A. Thierree, Oil & Gas Journal, May 6, 1991, pages 85-90, and (iv) "An Innovative Approach To Exploration and Exploitation Drilling: The Slim-Hole High-Speed Drilling System" by S. H. Walker and K. K. Millhelm, Journal of Petroleum Technology, September 1990, pages 1184-1191.
The continuous coring system described in these articles allows recovery of the inner tube of the core barrel by using a wireline and without tripping the drillstring. The retrieved core sample is typically pumped out of the core barrel into a trough where it is cleaned, marked and geologically described. The core sample may then be subjected to on-site physical testing, such as the measurement of core gamma or core spectral gamma by a conventional gamma ray logging system, and then repackaged for shipment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide both a method and apparatus for more efficiently handling a slim hole drilled core sample so that the cost advantage of the slim hole drilling is not eliminated by the high cost of evaluating the core material once it is retrieved to the surface of the earth.

Apparatus and method for retrieving and evaluating a slim hole drilled core sample of a subsurface formation


A current sensing assembly includes a conductor having a first side, a second side opposite the first side, a third side, and a fourth side opposite the third side. The first side has a first notch formed therein and the second side has a second notch formed therein opposite the first notch. The current sensing assembly also includes a sensor assembly including a first magnetic sensor disposed in the first notch or proximate to the third side of the conductor between the first and second notches, and a second magnetic sensor disposed in the second notch or proximate to the fourth side of the conductor between the first and second notches.

Field
The disclosed concept relates generally to current sensing and, more particularly, to assemblies for sensing current flowing through a conductor using magnetic sensors.
Background Information
Current sensing assemblies have been employed in electrical switching apparatus, such as circuit interrupters, to measure the current flowing there through. These current sensing assemblies generally require high accuracy in order to accurately sense the current for a number of trip functions. Current sensing assemblies with a wide current range are also preferable due to the dynamic operating range of circuit interrupters.
Direct current circuit breakers, for example, have used resistive shunts to sense direct current flowing through the circuit breaker. However, the resistive shunts cause a voltage drop in the circuit breaker. Additionally, resistive shunts heat up when current is flowing through them. Both the voltage drop and the heating caused by resistive shunts are undesirable in circuit breakers.
Magnetic sensors have also been used to measure current in circuit breakers. In order to obtain a high accuracy and a wide current range from magnetic sensors, relatively complex configurations of the magnetic sensors have been used in conjunction with relatively large flux concentrators. These types of sensor assemblies are relatively large and expensive. Furthermore, the magnetic material used in flux concentrators exhibits a saturating and non-linear relationship between the magnetic force and the flux density. Typical magnetic sensors are also susceptible to external fields, and thus, are at risk of providing inaccurate results.
There is room for improvement in current sensing assemblies.
There is also room for improvement in electrical switching apparatus including current sensing assemblies.

Current sensing assembly employing magnetic sensors


A computer aided engineering (CAE) system for effecting heat analysis of electronic equipment or similar equipment by using a finite difference method, node method, etc. As the operator enters data representative of the tridimensional configuration of equipment, a dividing section divides the data into a plurality of blocks and generate node data representative of the individual blocks. A ventilation circuit generator and a heat circuit generator generate, respectively, a ventilation circuit network and a heat circuit network, or analysis models, by using the node data and data fetched from a data base. A processing section processes the ventilation and heat circuit networks to calculate temperatures and pressures. A tridimensional wire frame generator generates tridimensional wire frame data by processing parameter data indicative of the dimensions and kinds of structural parts and elements of the euqipment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer aided engineering (CAE) system and, more particularly, to a CAE system for effecting the heat analysis of electronic equipment by a finite difference method, node method or similar method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Design analysis calculations using a computer is extensively used today and has come to implement the versatile inspection of the behavior of an object to be designed. Especially, the application of a CAE system to the analysis of strength, vibration and other characteristics which relies on structural analysis is extending. On the other hand, heat analysis is generally classified into two kinds of analysis, i.e., heat conduction analysis dealing with the diffusion of heat in a solid body, and heat fluid dynamics analysis dealing with the movement of a fluid in addition to the diffusion of heat in a solid body. While heat conduction analysis is relatively easy to execute and widely used, the applicability of heat fluid dynamics analysis at the present stage is limited to a particular field and to particular objects having simple configurations since it needs large-scale calculations.
The increase in the package density and processing speed of advanced electronic equipment is so striking, the decrease in the power consumption of individual devices cannot keep abreast of the miniaturization of equipment. In fact, the power consumption per unit volume of equipment is steadily increasing. In these circumstances, traditional heat design relying on intuition and experience does not work and should be replaced with heat analysis and simulation using a computer, as has recently been put into discussion.
Many pieces of electronic equipment are cooled by a stream of air and, therefore, need the previously stated heat fluid dynamics analysis. Typical of methods for heat fluid dynamics analysis are a finite difference method and a finite element method. The problem with such methods is that the zone to be analyzed has to be divided into a difference grating or finite elements. Hence, modeling the internal space of complicated electronic equipment is extremely time and labor-consuming. Moreover, to analyze the behavior of a fluid minutely, the space has to be divided into a difference grating or finite elements extremely minutely, resulting in the need for a prohibitive preprocessing time. For this reason, the finite difference method and finite element method are scarcely used for practical designing purposes.
A method generally referred to as a node method is predominant in the heat analysis of electronic equipment. The node method divides the internal space of electronic equipment relatively roughly into blocks, defines representative points or so-called nodes at the center of the individual blocks, and then determines the energy balance amoung the nodes by solving simultaneous equations relating to the nodes. The advantage of the node method is that the propagation of heat from a solid body to a fluid such as air can be represented roughly in terms of heat transfer rate. Regarding heat transfer rate, a number of equations for analysis and experimental equations have been reported in the field of heat transfer engineering. By using any of such equations, it is possible to estimate the propagation of heat without resorting to the strict calculations of the behavior of a fluid, i.e., without solving Navier-Stokes equation. Hence, accurate results are achievable by relatively small-scale calculations.
However, the state of the art node method is not satisfactory in that the resultant model is much removed from the actual image of analyzed equipment since it represents the individual nodes by a heat equivalent circuit connected by heat resistors or a ventilation equivalent circuit connected by ventilation resistors. With the node method, therefore, it is difficult to generate a model for analysis by using CAD data with which the finite element method is practicable. Another drawback particular to the node method is that the resistances of heat resistors or those of ventilation resistors cannot be determined unless adequate equations are selected with reference to experimental equations or similar equation, requiring expert knowledge on heat transfer theories.
Referring to FIG. 6, a heat analysis procedure using the conventional node method is shown in a flowchart. The procedure will be described with reference also made to FIGS. 7A to 7D which illustrates a modeling sequence specifically. As shown in FIG. 6, the conventional method begins with a step 101 of simplifying a model of interest and dividing the simplified model into blocks. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the interior of electronic equipment is represented by such blocks. The equipment shown in FIG. 7A has a housing 120 which is provided with a blower or fan 122 and a ventilation opening 123. Various units 121 are accommodated in the housing 120. While the equipment has a tridimensional configuration in practice, let it be represented by a bidimensional configuration for the simplicity of description. As shown in FIG. 7B, the areas, or blocks in the tridimensional aspect, defined by dividing the entire space in the step S101 each has a rectangular or triangular shape (hexahedron or any other configuration in the tridimensional aspect). A node 130 is defined at the center of gravity of each of such divided blocks.
As shown in FIG. 7C, the nodes of the blocks 131 belonging to the fluid portions of the equipment, i.e., fluid nodes are connected together by ventilation resistors 140 to determine ventilation resistances (step 102). Specifically, the ventilation resistors 140 are determined by calculating on the basis of the ventilation cross-sectional areas of the blocks 131 represented by the nodes which are located at opposite ends of the individual resistors, the distances between associated nodes, the differences in cross-sectional area, etc. For such calculations, a reference has to be made to a great number of equations (103).
Subsequently, the rate, pressure, and other boundary conditions of air section 141 where the blower 122 is located are set up (104), and then simultaneous equations are solved to determine pressures (105). As a result, the pressures at the individual nodes and the rate of air to flow between each nearby nodes are produced (106). Since the equivalent heat conductivity between nearby nodes is calculated from the rate of air between them, the ventilation equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 7C and already constructed can be directly substituted for a heat equivalent circuit in the fluid portions if the heat conductivity is used as a resistance.
As shown in FIG. 7D, the heat conduction resistors 150 particular to the inside of solid bodies 121 which are disposed in the casing 120 and the heat transfer resistors 151 and 152 from the solid bodies 121 to the fluid are calculated and added to the above-mentioned heat equivalent circuit. As a result, a heat equivalent circuit representative of the entire equipment is completed. This part of the processing involves many kinds of inspections, e.g., referencing the physical properties of the individual materials (108) to calculate the heat resistances (107) and referencing equations (110) to calculate heat transfer or propagation coefficients (109).
After the heat equivalent circuit network has been generated, boundary temperature conditions such as the amount of heat generation are set up (111), and then simultaneous equations are solved to determine temperatures (112).
In the specific procedure shown in FIG. 6, only the steps 105 and 106 for setting up a coefficient matrix and the step 112 for solving simultaneous equations can be assigned to a computer, i.e., the rest of the procedure has to be done mainly by manual operations. Since the node method solves problems relating to heat in exactly the same manner as it deals with electric circuitry, software for general analysis is often used to execute the above-mentioned part of the procedure which can be implemented by a computer.
As stated above, the conventional heat analysis, whatever the method for implementing it may be, is difficult to practice when it comes to the interior of electronic equipment. Even the node method which is the most general-purpose scheme has some serious problems. Namely, the node method requires not only much manual work but also a great number of analyzing steps, needs highly expert knowledge such as for the calculation of heat resistances, has difficulty in calculating natural convection, and cannot easily implement calculations which take account of the characteristics of a blower or fan.
At the present stage of technologies, therefore, it is almost impossible to effect practical heat analysis of electronic equipment.
The applicable range of heat analysis may be limited to electronic equipment having a particular configuration such as one having a plurality of printed circuit boards arranged in parallel therein, as proposed in the past. In such a case, the entire procedure can be automated by, for example, parameteric input. This kind of scheme, however, is not applicable to various kinds of electronic equipment.
For example, assume that the node method is used to replace the entire electronic equipment 500 shown in FIG. 12A with an extremely rough heat equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 12D or a ventilation equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 12B. Then, the computer treats the equipment 500 as an electric circuit having resistors R and capacitors C which have nothing to do with the actual configuration of the equipment 500. It is therefore difficult to generate a model for the node method by use of the configuration data of general electronic equipment, compared to the finite element method or similar approach.
The electronic equipment 500 shown in FIG. 12A is a unit having printed circuit boards 551 which are regularly arranged in parallel to one another. Although the number and power consumption of printed circuit boards 551, the kind and number of blowers 552 and other factors may differ from one unit to another, all the units are similar in overall configuration. Therefore, the ventilation equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 12B and the heat equivalent circuit shwon in FIG. 12D can be generated if parameters are inputted. For example, a fluid passage 553 defined between nearby printed circuit boards 551 has a ventilation resistor b1 which is calculated from the mounting pitch a1 of the boards 551 and the area a2 of the passage 553. After the ventilation equivalent circuit has been determined, the actual operating point c3 is determined by calculation on the basis of a ventilation characteristic c3 particular to the unit 500 and a static pressure-to-rate characteristic c1 particular to each blower or fan 552, as shown in FIG. 12C. The linear velocity of air at each of various sections of the unit is determined on the basis of the resulted operating point c3, whereby the heat equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 12D is set up. The heat equivalent circuit of FIG. 12D has a printed circuit board d1, solid body nodes defined on the printed circuit board d1, fluid nodes defined in the space between nearby printed circuit boards, solid body heat conduction resistors d4 existing in the printed circuit board, heat conduction resistors d5, and equivalent heat conduction resistors d6 ascribable to the stream of air.
FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a heat analysis CAE system for executing the above-stated analysis procedure. As shown, the heat analysis CAE system has a display 561, an input device 562, a data input/output section 563, a parameter data store 564, a node data generator 565, a ventilation circuit generator 566, a ventilation circuit calculator 567, a heat circuit generator 568, a heat circuit calculator 569, a calculated pressure and rate data store 570, and a calculated temperature data store 571.
The problem with the heat analysis CAE system of the type described is that the operator cannot see at which part of the unit of interest the temperaure is high and at which part the rate of air stream is low directly and, therefore, needs some time to judge the results of calculation. This stems from the fact that parameters representative of the specifications of the unit are inputted as data and cannot be easily related to the calculated temperatures of nodes. Moreover, when the operator inputs wrong parameters by accident, the configuration image is not displayed. Then, it takes a substantial period of time to locate a defective section, and it is difficult to output the calculated configuration of the unit to a utility system such as a computer aided designing (CAD) system.

CAE system for automatic heat analysis of electronic equipment


A digital signal processing apparatus for converting an analog signal to a digital signal and digitally processing the digital signal is disclosed. The apparatus includes a modulation part for performing pulse density modulation on the analog signal and outputting a pulse density modulation signal, a memory for storing a conversion program for converting the pulse density modulation signal to pulse code modulation data, and a CPU for receiving the pulse density modulation signal from the modulation part and converting the received pulse density modulation signal to pulse code modulation data according to the conversion program stored in the memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a digital signal processing apparatus, and more particularly to a digital signal processing apparatus for obtaining analog signals, converting the analog signals to digital signals, and performing a digital process on the digital signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with recent advances in digital signal processing apparatuses (e.g. CPU), various processes are being performed in the field of signal processing by digitizing analog signals.
According to a related art case (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-264849), in a process of supplying analog signals to a CPU, the analog signals are to be converted to digital data by using, for example, an analog-to-digital converter before supplying the signals to the CPU.
Accordingly, in a case of performing a digital process on analog signals with such a digital signal processing apparatus, the digital process is to be performed by converting the analog signals to digital data beforehand and supplying the digital data to a CPU. Therefore, such an apparatus requires an analog-to-digital converter having a complicated configuration for performing a digital process on analog signals.


A stage tool operable with a plug is used for cementing a tubing string in a wellbore annulus. The tool can have a housing with a closure sleeve movably disposed in the internal bore of the housing. When pressure is applied downhole to the tool, a breachable obstruction on an exit port of the tool's bore opens and allows fluid such as cement slurry to communicate to the wellbore annulus. When cementing through the open tool is finished, a plug can be deployed downhole lands on a seat in the closure sleeve, and applied fluid pressure in the tool's bore against the seated plug closes the closure sleeve relative to the housing's exit port. Rotational catches between the housing's bore and the closure sleeve prevent the closure sleeve from rotating. A hydraulic mechanism on the tool can facilitate movement of the closure sleeve in response to a fluid pressure component.

Cementing operations are used in wellbores to fill the annular space between casing and the formation with cement. When this is done, the cement sets the casing in the wellbore and helps isolate production zones at different depths within the wellbore from one another. Currently, the cement use during the operation can flow into the annulus from the bottom of the casing (e.g., cementing the long way) or from the top of the casing (e.g., reverse cementing).
Due to weak earth formations or long strings of casing, cementing from the top or bottom of the casing may be undesirable or ineffective. For example, when circulating cement into the annulus from the bottom of the casing, problems may be encountered because a weak earth formation will not support the cement as the cement on the outside of the annulus rises. As a result, the cement may flow into the formation rather than up the casing annulus. When cementing from the top of the casing, it is often difficult to ensure the entire annulus is cemented.
For these reasons, staged cementing operations can be performed in which different sections or stages of the wellbore's annulus are filled with cement. To do such staged operations, various stage tools can be disposed on the casing string for circulating cement slurry pumped down the casing string into the wellbore annulus at particular locations.
For example, FIG. 1A illustrates an assembly according to the prior art having a stage tool 24 and a packer 22 on a casing string 20, liner, or the like disposed in a wellbore 10. The stage tool 24 allows the casing string 20 to be cemented in the wellbore 10 using two or more stages. In this way, the stage tool 24 and staged cementation operations can be used for zones in the wellbore 10 experiencing lost circulation, water pressure, low formation pressure, and high-pressure gas.
As shown, an annulus casing packer 22 can be run in conjunction with the stage tool 24 to assist cementing of the casing string 20 in the two or more stages. The stage tool 24 is typically run above the packer 22, allowing the lower zones of the wellbore 10 to remain uncemented and to prevent cement from falling downhole. One type of suitable packer 22 is Weatherford's BULLDOG ACP™ annulus casing packer. (ACP is registered trademarks of Weatherford/Lamb, Inc.)
Other than in a vertical bore, stage tools can be used in other implementations. For example, FIG. 1B illustrates a casing string 20 having a stage tool 24 and a packer 20 disposed in a deviated wellbore. As also shown, the assembly can have a slotted screen below the packer 22.


A base node of a computer network sends concurrent TTL query messages using multicast to other receiving nodes of the computer network. Each of the TTL query messages has a different time-to-live (TTL) parameter value and records the TTL parameter of the TTL query message into a message body. The receiving nodes receive one or more of the TTL query messages, namely, those TTL query messages whose TTL parameter values are sufficient to allow the TTL query message to reach the receiving node. Each receiving node can determine the TTL distance to the receiving node from the base node by determining the lowest TTL parameter value of all TTL query messages which reached the receiving node. Each receiving node communicates the TTL distance by sending to the base node a TTL query response message which indicates, in the message body, the least TTL parameter value of all TTL query messages received by the receiving node. Accordingly, the base node can determine TTL distances to other nodes of the computer network very quickly.

Networks of computer systems are ubiquitous in our society and such networks range in size from two-computer local area networks to wide area networks which include thousands of computers and which span the entire world. It is frequently desirable to send a message to many other computers of a computer network.
Multicasting is a mechanism by which a relatively low number of messages can be used to convey a message to many computers of a computer network. Consider, for example, computer network 100 shown in FIG. 1. Suppose computer 102A has a message to send to all computers 102B-Y of computer network 100. Through multicast, computer 102A forms a single copy of the message and sends the message to computers 102B-D to which computer 102A is directly coupled through computer network 100 as shown. Computer 102D recognizes the message as multicast and forms additional copies to send to computers 102E-H, to which computer 102D is directly coupled through computer network 102D as shown. Similarly, computer 102H forwards copies of the message to computers 102J-L, and the message is propagated through computer network 100 to all of computers 102B-Y.
Unicast is a messaging protocol in which each message has an intended recipient. Using unicast to send a message from computer 102A to computers 102B-Y involves twenty-two separate messages transmitted through the portion of computer network 100 between computers 102A and 102D. By comparison, multicast transmits a single message through that portion of computer network 100. The efficiency of multicast relative to unicast is relatively modest in this illustrative example in comparison to multicast messages through wide-area networks which include thousands of computers.
It is frequently desirable to send messages to a local portion of a wide-area network. Messages therefore include a time-to-live (TTL) parameter which establishes a condition for expiration of a multicast message. The TL parameter of a multicast message is initialized by the sending computer and is decreased by each computer which forwards the multicast message. In some networks, the TTL parameter of a multicast message is decremented, i.e., decreased by one, by each computer which forwards the message such that the TTL parameter specifies an expiration condition in terms of network hops. In other networks, each computer which forwards a message decreases the TTL parameter of the message by an amount of time required to transfer the message to the computer such that the TTL parameter specifies an expiration condition in terms of an amount of time the message is permitted to travel. Some of the latter networks require that each computer decrease the TTL parameter by at least one second such that the TTL parameter specifies an expiration condition in terms of a combination of a maximum number of network hops and a maximum amount of time. When the TTL parameter of a multicast message is decreased below a predetermined threshold, which is typically zero, the multicast message is destroyed. The following example is illustrative.
Suppose computer 102A wishes to send a multicast message to computers 102B-G. Computer 102A can form a multicast message with a TTL parameter whose value is two. The message reaches computers 102B-D since computers 102B-D are coupled directly to computer 102A, through computer network 100. Computer 102D decrements the TTL parameter of the message to have a value of one and forwards the multicast message to computers 102E-H. Thus, computers 102B-G receive the multicast message. In addition, computer 102H receives the multicast message. Computer 102H decrements the TTL parameter of the multicast message to have a value of zero. Accordingly, computer 102H destroys the multicast message. As a result, the multicast message does not pass beyond computer 102H and does not unnecessarily burden the remainder of computer network 100.
To determine what value to which to set the TTL parameter of a particular multicast message, each computer of a computer network generally includes a database in which the distance to each other computer of the computer network in terms of TTL parameter values are stored. Such a distance is referred to as a TTL distance. To populate such a database, a computer of a computer network must generally be capable of determining such TTL distances. In computer networks in which header information of messages can be directly examined, such determination is a matter of comparing the difference between the initial and current values of the TTL parameter of messages from specific computers. However, initial TTL parameters of received messages are generally not stored in the header of such messages and, in a number of computer network environments, current TTL parameter values are not accessible.
One mechanism for determining TTL distances between computers of a computer network when current TTL parameter values cannot be directly examined is called an expanding ring search. In general, a multicast message with a TTL parameter whose value is one is sent through the computer network. All computers which respond are determined to have a TTL distance of one. Next, a multicast message with a TTL parameter whose value is two is sent through the computer network. All computers which respond are determined to have a TTL distance of two. Multicast messages with ever increasing TTL parameter values are sent and responses from such multicast messages are gathered to determine the TTL distances of all computers of the computer network.
Expanding ring search suffers from some disadvantages. First, expanding ring search is slow. In general, each computer of the computer network must respond to each multicast message before the next multicast message can be sent. In addition, the computer which sent the original multicast message determines that all computers have responded by waiting a predetermined amount of time. Such a predetermined amount of time can be several seconds in duration, and a complete expanding ring search can include several hundred multicast messages. As a result, determination of TTL distances using expanding ring search can take several minutes.
The second disadvantage of expanding ring searches is that such places a substantial burden on the computer network in terms of message traffic. Specifically, each computer of the computer network responds to each and every multicast message received. In a computer network which includes thousands of computers, each of several hundred multicast messages can elicit thousands of responding messages. Accordingly, expanding ring search can burden a large computer network with hundreds of thousands of messages. If each computer of such a computer network uses an expanding ring search to determine TTL distances to other computers of the computer network, the burden upon the computer network in terms of message traffic is enormous.
What is needed is a mechanism by which computers of a computer network can determine TTL distances to other computers of the computer network without requiring excessive amounts of time or of computer network bandwidth.

Determination of distance between nodes in a computer network


A device for plug-connecting first and second electric lines includes a plug element assigned to the first line and having a plug pin. A socket element is assigned to the second line and receives the plug pin in a pin receiver for electrically contact. The socket element has a metal strip forming the second line. On its end facing the plug pin, the metal strip is deformed in a transversal manner with regard to its longitudinal direction while forming the plug receiver. The metal strip is deformed so that the plug pin can be inserted into the plug receiver in a longitudinal direction of the metal strip. Also, the metal strip forms a one-piece plate bar located external to the socket element. Electrical and/or electronic components are applied to the plate bar, and are electrically connected in an at least partial manner to the metal strip.

The present invention relates to a device for plug-connection of first and second electric conductors. A plug element has a plug pin associated with the first conductor. A socket element has a socket element associated with the second conductor which receives the plug pin into a pin receptacle to make electric contact.
In conventional plug connection devices, the plug and socket elements must be fastened to the electric conductors associated with them to establish electric contact. As a result, additional contact points arise which present a potential source of malfunction under more difficult operating conditions such as vibrations or aggressive atmospheres. Structural precautions must be taken so that both the plug and the socket elements ensure reliable contact, especially in the area of the contact points. In addition, the socket element is time consuming and costly to manufacture.
DE-GM 1 809 183 discloses a device providing a plug connection between two electrical conductors for low currents in the area of electric information transmission and metrology. The device is connected electrically to connecting conductors by means of the solder connections making up the device, similar to those specified in DE 20 41 065 B2.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,252 shows an electric plug connector which forms in the socket area two clamping jaws made up of metal strips. The ends of the metal strips away from the socket are separated in the form of a stirrup to provide electric contact for the socket element.
DE-GM 1 933 165 discloses a one-piece contact spring with two spring halves which are stamped from a metal sheet and then folded together. Electric connection with the connecting conductor is established by a soldered end formed by the contact spring.
DE 79 15 670 U1 describes an electric strip connector with a base area to which at least one finger area, a wire rope coupling, and a connecting element are connected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,081 discloses a plug connector with a socket element designed as a cable lug which may be connected to a grounding plate. For this purpose, the socket element is integral and has two contact prongs directly on the grounding plate.
Objects of the present invention are to provide a device for plug connection of a first electric conductor to a second electric conductor with a plug element associated with the first conductor and a socket element associated with the second conductor. The contact may be established with electric and/or electronic components mounted on a bar and have the smallest possible number of failure-prone contact points, while at the same time ensuring contact protection despite simplicity of manufacture.
The socket element has a metal strip forming the second conductor. The end of the metal strip is shaped and, in particular, is bent transversely to the longitudinal direction of the strip to form the pin receptacle such that the plug pin may be inserted into the plug receptacle in the longitudinal direction of the metal strip. The second conductor and the socket element are designed as one piece. A contact point between the second conductor and the socket element is eliminated. The pin receptacle has, in a cross-section enclosing a right angle with the longitudinal axis of the metal strip, a shape more or less coinciding with the corresponding cross-section of the plug pin. The plug pin is, for example, in the form of a circular cylinder and, like the pin receptacle, designed for a current carrying capacity of 1 to 1000 A, preferably 50 to 200 A. The metal strip is preferably made of copper or a copper alloy, and preferably has a thickness ranging from 0.5 to 2 mm.
As a result of formation of the pin receptacle by bending the metal strip transversely to the longitudinal direction of the strip, the pin receptacle has a high flexural strength, especially in the direction of insertion of the plug pin. The longitudinal direction of the metal strip is more or less parallel to the direction of insertion of the plug pin. The metal strip is, in the area of the pin receptacle, at least partly bent around the central axis of the device. As a result, it is easy to design the socket element as a panel jack mounted on a housing, or integral with the housing or the perforation to be provided for the metal strip or the second conductor.
In the present invention, the metal strip forms a bar outside the socket or plug element, as one piece. On the bar, the components of an electric or electronic appliance are mounted, such as those of an electronic frequency converter for a motor and/or generator appliance. This arrangement eliminates the need for additional contact and connecting points. Reliable operation is achieved with reduced manufacturing and assembly costs. Several metal plates making up a pin receptacle for a socket element per layer may form an overall multilayer bar. The individual layers are electrically insulated from each other. The electric and/or electronic components mounted on the bar may be electrically connected to one or more of the layers, and thus, to one or more of the pin receptacles.
The reliability of contact and the current carrying capacity of the pin receptacle is increased by the socket element having two or more metal strips. The bending radius of the individual metal strips is preferably more or less identical, and in particular smaller than the radius of the plug pin. As a result, the advantage is gained of producing at least two contact points or conductors per metal strip. In addition, the metal strip may have a plurality of punctate conductor or laminar contact points in the area of the pin receptacle which are molded on in one piece and come contact with the plug pin.
Since the at least two metal strips are in one piece, a basically interference-prone electric connecting point is eliminated. As an alternative to the one-piece design of the at least two metal strips, the latter may preferably be mechanically, and optionally also electrically, rigidly connected to each other outside the socket area. Preferably, this connection is bonded, for example, by riveting, soldering, and welding, spot welding in particular, or by flanging of shaped metal tabs. Screw, hook, or catch attachment of the metal strips is also possible, of course. This arrangement permits electrical connection of, for example, two component conductors of the second conductor by the plug connection device. If the connection point of the at least two metal strips provides only a mechanical connection, electrical connection of the at least two metal strips results when the plug element is inserted.
Since the metal strip is or the strips are enclosed in an energy storage fuse element, for example, by one or more clamping rings applying the force of a spring to the metal strips radially, the reliability of contact and current carrying capacity of the pin receptacle are further increased.
Since the pin receptacle is mounted in a preferably electrically insulating socket housing which overlaps the pin receptacle at the end, with an opening left for passage of the plug pin, the socket element is shockproof. The opening for passage of the plug pin is only slightly larger than the plug pin and its shape is adapted to that of the plug pin. The pin receptacle is mounted in the socket element in such a way, and in particular opposite the opening so far, that when a probe is inserted into the opening in accordance with safety regulations, it does not come in contact with the pin receptacle.
Since the socket housing has catch means operating in conjunction with the plug element, the plug connection may be produced by a simple method. In particular it can be made without a special assembly tool. The danger of unintentional contact with the plug pin and/or the pin receptacle is eliminated.
With the plug pin mounted in a plug housing projecting beyond the plug pin in the direction of insertion, a probe does not come in contact with the plug pin when introduced into the plug opening in accordance with safety regulations. In this manner, protection from contact is also guaranteed with respect to the plug element of the plug connecting device. Additional protection from contact is achieved by the plug pin having an electrically insulating end section, preferably produced by means of an electrically insulating sealing element mounted on the end side of the plug pin. Protection from contact is increased and insertion of the plug pin into the pin receptacle is simplified by a sealing element in conical or spherical form on the end side.

Device for plug-connecting electric lines

Pfisterer Kontaktsysteme GmbH and Co. KG


A method and apparatus for mapping distributed generators (DGs) to corresponding power grid feeder lines. In one embodiment, the method comprises obtaining grid data pertaining to a power grid that comprises a plurality of feeder lines; obtaining, for each distributed generator (DG) of a plurality of DGs coupled to the plurality of feeder lines, DG data pertaining to the DG; and determining, based on the grid data and the DG data, a mapping that identifies to which feeder line of the plurality of feeder lines each of the DGs of the plurality of DGs is coupled.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to determining a mapping of distributed generators (DGs) to power distribution feeder lines.
Description of the Related Art
Power distribution systems are prevalent throughout most countries for delivering power generated at a commercial power plant to consumers. Power distribution systems generally include high-voltage transmission lines for distributing generated power to one or more distribution centers, or substations, where the high-voltage is stepped down to a lower voltage and distributed further to consumers via feeder lines.
As the use of distributed generators (DGs) for power generation from renewable energy sources continues to rise, more and more buildings that are connected to commercial feeder lines also have a local DG that is coupled to the commercial feeder line. Generally, detailed data regarding the exact layout of DGs to feeder lines (e.g., specifically which feeder line each DG is coupled to) as well as actual power production contributed by the DGs to the feeder line does not exist. As such, some feeder lines may be incorrectly considered over-subscribed and closed to the addition of more DGs.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for determining which DGs are coupled to which feeder lines.

Method and apparatus for substation fingerprinting


The apparatus extracts from an optical transmission path bidirectionally-propagating groups of wavelength-division multiplexed optical signals, arranges the groups to propagate unidirectionally via an output port, receives a corresponding unidirectional group via an input port, sorts the corresponding unidirectional group into two groups corresponding to those extracted from the transmission path, and returns the two corresponding groups of wavelength-division multiplexed signals to the transmission path so that each group propagates in its original direction. The apparatus comprises first and second bidirectional ports for coupling in series between first and second sections of the transmission path, and a series of optical devices each comprising first, second, third and fourth ports and an optical bandpass filter or other wavelength-selective element. Each of the filters selects a different wavelength. Each device couples optical signals of its selected wavelength entering its first port to emerge from its fourth port, and vice versa; couples optical signals of its selected wavelength entering its second port to emerge from its third port, and vice versa; couples optical signals of other than its selected wavelength entering its first port to emerge via its second port, and vice versa; and couples optical signals of other than its selected wavelength entering its third port to emerge via its fourth port, and vice versa. A first in the series of optical devices has its first and third ports coupled to the bidirectional ports, respectively, for connection to the transmission path, and its second and fourth ports connected to the first and third ports, respectively, of a succeeding one of the series of optical devices. A last in the series of optical devices has its first and third ports connected to the second and fourth ports, respectively, of a preceding one of the series of optical devices, and its second and fourth ports serving for unidirectional output and input ports, respectively, of the apparatus. Any intervening device has its first and third ports connected to the second and fourth ports of the preceding device.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to apparatus for converting optical signals and especially to optical apparatus for use in optical communications systems in which optical signals of different wavelength propagate in opposite directions in a single optical transmission path. The invention is especially applicable to optical apparatus for use with optical communications systems employing wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical signals.
2. Background Art
In optical communications systems, a single optical transmission path, in a suitable transmission medium such as an optical fiber, may convey bidirectional optical signals, i.e. a first optical signal of one wavelength in one direction and a second optical signal of a second wavelength in the opposite direction. In certain situations, it is desirable to treat the bidirectionally propagating signals by means of a device through which the signals must pass unidirectionally from an input to an output. This involves interrupting the transmission path, routing the two signals unidirectionally through the optical treatment device, and then returning them to the transmission path to continue in their original, opposite directions of propagation. For example, where optical signals are propagating in a long transmission line, it may be necessary to amplify the bidirectional signals at an intermediate point. Converting them into unidirectional signals temporarily enables one, unidirectional amplifier to be used, saving expense and avoiding differences of amplification.
It is possible to insert into an optical transmission path a four-port optical device comprising a pair of one quarter pitch graded index rod lenses positioned coaxially end-to-end with a bandpass filter sandwiched between them. A first port and a second port are positioned at the exposed end of one of the lenses and off-center with respect to the axis of the lens. A third port and a fourth port are positioned at the exposed end of the other lens and correspondingly off-center so that a light beam entering one of the ports will be expanded by the rod lens and collimated as it reaches the filter. If transmitted by the filter, the light beam will be refocussed by the other lens to couple to the opposite port. If reflected by the filter, the light beam will be collimated by the same rod lens and coupled to the adjacent port.
The respective ends of the transmission medium are connected to the first and third ports and the amplifier or other equipment is connected between the second and fourth ports. Signals having a wavelength within the passband of the bandpass filter entering one port pass through the filter to emerge from an opposite port. Signals of the other wavelength, however, are reflected by the filter to emerge from the adjacent port. Hence, a first signal having a wavelength outside the passband, arriving at the first port will be reflected to emerge via the second port and pass through the amplifier or other device. A second signal having a wavelength within the pass band of the filter travelling in the opposite direction in the transmission medium will enter the device via the third port, be transmitted by the bandpass filter, and also emerge via the second port. Consequently, both signals will pass through the amplifier in same direction.
On leaving the amplifier, the two signals will enter the device via the fourth port. The first signal will be reflected again by the bandpass filter and emerge at the third port, to propagate along the waveguide in its original direction. The second signal will again be transmitted by the bandpass filter and emerge via the first port, to propagate along the waveguide in its original opposite direction.
Such a device, however, is limited to a single wavelength in each direction. Increasingly, optical communications systems employ wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) enabling several signals having different wavelengths to be carried by the same waveguide. A single waveguide might carry any number of different wavelengths in each direction there being, theoretically, no upper limit. Consequently, there is a need for a device which will convert wavelength-division multiplexed signals propagating in a single waveguide into unidirectional signals and then back into bidirectional signals again to continue in their original directions of propagation, and vice versa. There is also a need for apparatus for converting bidirectional WDM optical signals to unidirectional optical signals, or vice versa.

Apparatus for converting wavelength-division multiplexed optical signals


A casket display structure has a back wall and wing walls that are removably-attached to the back wall to form an alcove. A double-tiered display rack is mounted between the wing walls. The display structure includes a lower casket rollout rack connected to the fixed double-tiered rack by a scissors unit.

This invention relates to a modular display system for a casket selection or display room.
Among the funeral homes in the United States, the displaying of caskets is usually not thoroughly thought out. Typically, fifteen to twenty caskets are in a room and the environment surrounding the caskets is not completely and aesthetically designed to bring out all of the important features of the caskets.
The objective of the present invention has been to provide an improved display structure for supporting the caskets to be viewed, the display structure admitting of several configurations which, when properly disposed in a room, increase the number of caskets that can be displayed.
Another objective of the invention has been to improve the aesthetic environment in which the caskets are displayed.
Another objective of the invention has been to improve the profitability to the funeral director of his casket sales.
These objectives of the present invention are attained by providing a modular casket display structure which admits of multiple configurations and which can be installed very rapidly. More specifically, the invention includes back wall and side or wing walls removably-joined together so as to permit alcoves to be created and spaced around a display room. The invention contemplates a double-tiered display rack containing two vertically-spaced caskets disposed in each alcove. Each alcove is provided with tasteful signage which is easily mounted on the back wall to designate the category of casket and the casket per se as tastefully as possible. A modular soffit is mountable with four screws to the upper front corners of the wing walls. Each soffit contains a track light for creatively illuminating the caskets being displayed.
A variegated finish on all the surfaces of the alcove within which the caskets are displayed is of special, relatively neutral color, yet with pigmentation designed to bring up the colors of any casket displayed within the alcove.
The modular construction is not only suitable for forming alcoves lining the perimeter of walls of the display room, but it is also suitable for creating center-of-the-room displays of various configurations, thereby adding to the utilization of space within the display room.
Using the invention, a room that even seemed crowded when displaying fifteen to twenty caskets can be converted to a room displaying a minimum of twenty-seven to thirty caskets. The invention admits of the double stacking of the caskets while at the same time having them easily accessible, properly illuminated, and backed with a finish that is tastefully and aesthetically suitable for the conditions of selecting a casket. By providing a wider selection of caskets through proper utilization of the space provided by the present invention, the display room will be more profitable for the funeral director, for the parties selecting their caskets are more likely to find the caskets that suit them.
The invention permits the improved selection room to be installed in three to five days as contrasted to the several weeks that would be required if the room were built from scratch or "stick built." This fact, too, enhances the profitability to the funeral director for the funeral home will not be undesirable and adversely affected for an extended period of time by clutter and the noise of construction if the present invention is employed. Strikingly, the new improved display room can be installed almost over the weekend.
Another advantage of the modular construction is that it can be leased to the funeral director by the casket supplier with conventional leasing terms that permit the funeral director to own the structure at the end of the lease period while safeguarding the lessor permitting it to repossess the display elements if necessary. The improved profitability to the funeral director is such that lease payments are very likely to be able to be made out of the increased profitability that arises out of the display of the greater assortment of caskets along with the display in the most aesthetically pleasing environment.


A system for controlling propulsion of a machine is described. The system includes a first sensor for generating a first signal indicative of an articulation angle of the machine. The system also includes at least one transmission power unit coupled to front and rear powertrains of the machine. The system further includes a control module in communication with the first sensor and the at least one transmission power unit. The control module is configured to receive the first signal from the first sensor. The control module is also configured to control the at least one transmission power unit to provide power to at least one of the front powertrain or the rear powertrain, based on the articulation angle of the machine.

Industries, such as construction, agriculture, and mining, often employ articulated machines. An articulated machine includes a front frame and a rear frame hinged together by a hitch joint for movement (pivotal movement) of the front frame with respect to the rear frame. When the front frame is moved relative to the rear frame, the front frame pulls the articulated machine in one direction and the rear frame pushes the articulated machine in another direction. These directions of the front frame and the rear frame define an articulation angle of the articulated machine. In an example, when the articulation angle is more than 60 degrees, and the articulated machine is travelling uphill, rear axle of the rear frame is required to produce large magnitude of propulsion force. However, due to the uphill condition, a component of the propulsion force from the rear axle lies in a direction normal to the direction in which the rear frame of the articulated machine travels. In such scenarios when the front frame continues to pull the articulated machine in one direction whilst turning, the rear portion of the articulated machine may not move. Hence, the articulated machine may be destabilized with respect to a side on which the articulated machine is turning.
International patent publication number WO2015/063573 (the '573 publication) describes a four-wheel-drive vehicle equipped with a steering device and an electronic control unit. The steering device mechanically transmits rotation of a steering wheel to front wheels of the vehicle. The electronic control unit determines whether operation of the steering wheel is a steering increase operation or a steering return operation. Further, the electronic control unit is configured to set an amount (or a ratio) of driving force distributed to the front wheels in the steering increase operation to an amount that is larger than amount of driving force distributed to front wheels in the steering return operation. However, the '573 publication fails to disclose determining and distributing an amount or a ratio of the driving force with respect to an articulated machine.

System and method for controlling propulsion of machine