A parking brake operating mechanism having a brake apply pedal arm module and a housing module pivotally mounted on a vehicle. The housing contains a linearly movable toothed rack operatively connected to one end of the pedal arm for movements by that arm and operatively connected at its other end to a front brake cable which is operatively connected to one or more vehicle parking brakes to be tensioned for parking brake application, a pawl member having a pawl tooth selectively engaged with a tooth of the rack to lock the rack in a brake applied position, and a pawl release mechanism which when activated moves the pawl tooth out of engagement with the rack tooth, permitting the rack and the pedal arm to be returned to the parking brake released position by the brake apply tension in the brake cable. A brake lamp switch mounted on the housing is actuated and deactuated by movements of the rack toward the brake applied position and back to the brake release position to energize and deenergize a lamp signifying that the parking brake operating mechanism is in its brake apply mode. Once the pawl tooth is engaged with a rack tooth in locking relation and the operator has released the pedal arm, all reaction to the tension force in the brake cable bypasses the pedal arm, relieving that arm and it pivot from stress from that force while the parking brake remains applied. The pawl release mechanism may be of the spring clutch type or of a pedal arm push-to-release type which is automatically reset upon the completion of the brake release operation so as to be ready upon another parking brake apply to lock the rack, and therefore the brake cable in the applied position.

The typical vehicle parking brake control mechanism has either a hand-pulled or a foot-pushed apply lever which upon movement in a parking brake apply direction by a vehicle operator arcuately rotates a drum or pulley or similar structure, or the opposite end of the apply lever, to which one end of a parking brake cable is attached, exerting tension force through the cable to a brake mechanism located somewhere in the vehicle drive line between the vehicle engine and the vehicle drive wheels. Usually, the vehicle brake mechanism is located at the vehicle wheels on one axle location such as the rear axle. In any case, the tension force in the cable will apply one or more brakes in a parking mode. When applied, the parking brakes strongly resist or prevent movement of the vehicle while it is stopped.
Such vehicle parking brake control mechanisms also have arrangements whereby the brake parking brake cable is held in tension after the hand or foot applied force is removed. These arrangements typically latch or lock the drum or the parking brake lever in position, so that the resistance or reaction force maintaining the brake apply tension force path from the parking brake cable to a fixed part of the vehicle passes from the parking brake cable through the drum to a part of the parking brake operating lever. The drum or the part of the parking brake operating lever acting as such is typically mounted on a pivot shaft or bushing which is mounted on a bracket provided for that purpose, the bracket being operatively fixed to the frame or body of the vehicle.
The latching or locking mechanism of the typical parking brake control mechanism may be any of several basic designs. For example, a toothed gear or gear sector, operatively mounted on or even a part of the drum or the parking brake lever, may be selectively engaged by a toothed pawl which is pivotally or linearly movable into engagement with one or more teeth of the gear or gear sector so as to prevent releasing-direction rotational movement of the drum or the parking brake lever. With the pawl being operatively pivotally mounted on the earlier mentioned mounting bracket, the parking brake force path is transmitted from the gear or gear sector to the vehicle frame or body. In another example, the drum may be latched in the brake-applied position by a spring clutch.
The pawl or the spring clutch is typically released by a hand-operated arrangement which when pulled or pushed causes the pawl or the spring clutch to be moved so as to terminate the latched brake-applied position, relieving the tension in the parking brake cable and permitting the brake or brakes which were applied through it to be released.
The following U.S. Patents are typical of previously known parking brake apply and release mechanisms of the types commonly used on vehicles either currently or at some time in the past, or at least proposed for such use. Some of the patents noted below, while not in such parking brake control mechanisms, have structural features of general interest in developing a fuller understanding of the background of the invention herein disclosed and claimed.
U.S. Pat. No. 210,442--Whipple, patented Dec. 3, 1878, is of interest because it is an early disclosure of a brake operator using a rack and pinion gear for locking the brake in the set position and for releasing the brake. The brake rod which operates the wagon brake is attached directly to the hand operated lever on which the pinion gear is mounted. The pinion gear provides an automatic locking device on the hand operated lever which engages the rack in locking relation when the brake is set by moving the hand operated lever in one pivotal direction. This engagement is terminated by moving the hand operated lever in its disengaging direction, causing the pinion gear to be disengaged from its locking position in relation to the rack and allowing the hand operated lever and the brake rod to be moved to release the wagon brake.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,968,159--Nickliss, patented Jul. 31, 1934, shows a brake operator in which a pinion gear is moved by the lever over a stationary rack. A latch is provided to engage the pinion gear with the teeth of the stationary rack so as to prevent relative movement in the brake releasing direction of the pinion gear relative to the rack, holding the brake in the engaged position until such time as the latch is released to unlock the pinion gear.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,271,799--McCarthy, patented Feb. 3, 1942, discloses a rack and pinion brake actuator which is hand operated so that the parking brake is actuated when the hand lever is pulled. When the hand lever is pulled rearwardly from the housing, the rack is moved a distance regulated by the two pinion gears. The brake cable is attached to the rack so that it is tensioned by such movement of the rack. A clutch or pawl engages one of the pinion gears so as to lock both pinion gears against rotation, thus locking the rack in the brake applied position. The pawl is released by an actuating trigger mechanism which retracts the pawl tooth from engagement with the pinion gear, allowing release of the tension force in the brake cable which was keeping the parking brake applied, releasing the parking brake.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,061--Gardner, patented Mar. 16, 1954, also discloses a pinion gear and gear sector brake operator as well as a rack and pinion gear arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,581--Harness, patented Oct. 1, 1968, discloses a toothed rack and two toothed rotatable gears in meshing engagement with it. One of the gears is linearly movable toward and away from the other gear and therefore into and out of meshing engagement with the other gear to lock or release the mechanism. Such a mechanism could be applied to parking brake control mechanisms in which the brake cable is attached to the toothed rack which can be moved toward and from the cable tensioning direction, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,271,799--McCarthy discussed above, 3,459,065--Fender discussed immediately below, or other similar rack and pinion gear arrangements also discussed herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,065--Fender, patented Aug. 5, 1969, has a pinion gear attached to a hand operated handle. A movable toothed rack engaged by the pinion gear has the brake operating cable attached to it. A toothed wheel on the pinion gear is selectively engaged and disengaged by a pawl. The pawl is biased into the engaged position by a spring and is disengaged by means of a pawl handle which is moved to move the pawl out of engagement with the wheel against the force of the biasing spring. U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,759--Yamazaki, patented May 18, 1971, has a somewhat different arrangement in that the brake is normally applied by depressing the foot operated lever which in turn pulls a cable to cause operation of the brake. A pawl engages a ratchet to hold the brake in the applied position. A rack on a hand operated shaft is engageable with a pinion gear to effect release of the brake when the handle is pushed forwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,545--Petresh et al, patented Jun. 8, 1976, illustrates a rack and pinion parking brake actuator which is hand operated. The handle is attached to a toothed rack rod engaged by a pinion gear having a drum or pulley thereon to which the brake cable is attached. Movement of the rack rod causes rotation of the drum or pulley to apply tension to the brake cable. A spring clutch is provided to prevent movement of the drum to a release position until such time as the spring clutch is released by actuation of a release lever.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,206--Suzuki, patented Dec. 27, 1988, shows a cable strand attached to one end of a toothed rack which is engaged by a pawl to provide for elimination of excessive slack in the cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,242--Hass, issued Jul. 25, 1989, has a torsion clutch spring wound about a drum secured to and rotatable with a pedal lever so as to permit movement of the pedal lever to tension a parking brake cable attached to it, but to prevent movement of the pedal lever in the brake releasing direction so long as the clutch spring is in gripping relation with the drum. A pull handle is connected to the free end of the clutch spring which when pulled opens the clutch spring torsionally so that its grip on the drum is eliminated, allowing the pedal lever and the parking brake cable to return to the brake released position. It also discloses a second clutch spring arrangement that is activated when the brake cable is returned to the brake released position to activate a cable tension adjusting device which removes slack in the brake cable. Also, a push-to-release arrangement is shown which includes a toggle pawl and a spring device operable upon tapping of the pedal lever to place the system in a brake released condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,368--Porter, patented Oct. 10, 1989, has a pawl and ratchet mechanism for locking a parking brake operating mechanism in the brake cable tensioned, brake applied, position. An overcenter spring arrangement alternately pivotally biases the pawl in opposite directions to perform its locking and releasing functions. The pawl is alternately pivoted, first to the locking position when the pedal lever is moved from the released position toward a brake cable tensioning position for applying the parking brake. Once locked, further movement of the pedal lever in the cable tensioning direction causes release of the pawl from the ratchet. Then, alternatively, the pedal lever may be moved further in the cable tensioning direction to again lock the pawl to the ratchet as a higher cable tension force level, or the pedal lever may be released for return to the cable released or off position. Another alternative disclosed is the provision of a manually operable release rod for releasing the pawl from the bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,592--Yamazaki et al, patented Aug. 21, 1990, includes a gear sector on a parking brake operating pedal lever, a pawl which is engaged with the gear sector so as to lock that sector against brake releasing movement, and a release linkage for releasing the pawl by operation of a release lever.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,899--Katagiri, patented Aug. 18, 1992, shows a pinion and gear sector arrangement wherein the gear sector is formed as part of the parking brake actuating arm. That gear sector is engaged by a pinion gear. The parking brake cable which is tensioned to apply the parking brake is connected to the brake actuating arm. Clutch springs prevent retrograde movement until such time as the release handle is pulled to effect release of the clutches and consequently the release of the parking brake.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,166--Ruhlman, patented Dec. 1, 1992, discloses another, later-patented, rack and pinion latching arrangement functionally similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,581--Harness discussed above. The rack is connected to a cable. The arrangement is for the purpose of length adjustment, such as taking up excessive slack in the cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,867--Ojima et al, patented Dec. 15, 1992, shows the employment of torsion clutch springs in a parking brake operator lock and release mechanism, the springs being wound about drum surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,963--Perisho et al, patented Feb. 2, 1993, shows a parking brake pedal lever having a cable drum sector with a cam-shaped surface on the end opposite the pedal to which the parking brake cable is so connected that movement of the pedal lever in the brake applying direction will tension the cable. A gear sector is also on the pedal lever end opposite the pedal. The gear sector is in meshing engagement with a pinion gear which is secured to a clutch drum that is rotatably supported on the parking brake mechanism mounting bracket. A helical clutch spring is wound about and normally grips or releases the drum so as to prevent drum rotation in one direction but to permit drum rotation while the pedal lever is being moved in the brake applying direction. When preventing drum rotation after the pedal lever has been released so that the tension in the brake cable urges the pedal lever (and the drum acting through the pinion gear and gear sector) toward the brake released direction, the mechanism is latched or locked in the brake applied position. A hand operated rod may be moved to act through appropriate linkage to move the free end of the clutch spring so as to open up that spring, causing it to release the drum, and thus permitting brake releasing action of the mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,786--Pare et al, patented May 10, 1994, shows a parking brake actuator having a sector gear mounted on a mounting bracket so as to apply tension to a parking brake cable. A pedal lever is mounted on the mounting bracket for pivoting coaxially with the sector gear but independently of it. A spirally-wound spring extends between the lever and a drive plate for rotating the drive plate relative to the lever to apply an initial tension on the cable. A drive clutch couples the drive plate to the lever upon initial rotation of the lever out of brake release position to enable lever rotation to increasingly tension the brake cable and apply the parking brake. The drive clutch includes a pinion gear mounted on the pedal lever in engagement with the sector gear. A torsion clutch spring is wrapped about the pinion gear hub and has one end fixed to the lever. It has a free end, and normally contracts to prevent rotation of the pinion gear, thus operatively coupling the drive plate to the lever. A release pin on the mounting bracket is engaged by the torsion spring free end in the brake release position to expand the torsion clutch spring to free the pinion for rotation, thus decoupling the drive plate from the lever. Another control clutch has a torsion spring which releasably maintains the drive plate in the brake apply position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,666--Soucie et al, filed Jul. 7, 1994, and patented Nov. 21, 1995, has a non-jamming self-adjust pawl and ratchet mechanism disclosed in an automotive parking brake system environment which is related to the present invention. When the pawl is engaged with the ratchet, it takes the tension load exerted by the tensioned brake cable and transmits it to the mounting bracket which is secured to a fixed part of the vehicle body. It is disclosed with three embodiments. In the first embodiment, the parking brake pedal lever is maintained in the brake-engaged position by a clutch spring and gear drum arrangement and the adjuster pawl is engaged with the ratchet for self-adjust. In the second embodiment, the parking brake pedal lever is maintained in the brake-engaged position by main pawl and main ratchet means, and the adjuster pawl and adjuster ratchet act as before. In the third embodiment, the operating lever is a hand lever that has the adjuster pawl and the main pawl pivotally mounted thereon. Each pawl is engageable with and disengageable from its own ratchet. The mechanism is not mounted in a pivoted housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,746--Perisho et al, filed Mar. 21, 1994, and patented Dec. 26, 1995, has a pair of cooperating lobe members providing a mechanical advantage between a parking brake operating lever and the parking brake cable. The lobes have cam surfaces connected by a flexible strap or belt that extends between the cooperating cam surfaces and is secured at opposite ends to the respective cams. A spring clutch and drum arrangement is associated with the drive lobe member for locking the lever in the brake applied position. Its free end is moved via a release cable to release the spring clutch's grip on the drum associated with the drive lobe member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,762--Rothman, filed Jun. 20, 1994, and patented Jan. 23, 1996, relates to an adjuster to establish and maintain tension in a cable system. A linearly extending toothed rack ratchet member is engageable by two pawl members, both permitting passage of the ratchet member in the same direction.
Other background relates to the assembly of a parking brake mechanism so that it is in ready-to-ship condition to a vehicle assembly plant, and the installation of a parking brake operating mechanism in a vehicle. It is common practice to ship the parking brake control mechanism of which the hand or pedal lever is an integral part, the control release cable (if one is used) and the front brake cable separately to the assembly plant. Depending upon the sources of these components, they may even be, and often are, shipped from one to three different supplier manufacturing plants. This reduces shipping costs. Even when the conventional system is shipped as a preassembled unit, as is sometimes done, it requires a bulky package for shipping because of its shape as packaged. Of course, the advantage to pre-assembly and shipping as a unit is the reduction in assembly plant labor, which is often at a higher rate than is the labor in many supplier plants.
It is the most common practice to assemble the control and the front cable to each other in an off-line operation at the vehicle assembly plant when the parts noted above are separately shipped. This sub-assembly is then bolted into the vehicle, after which the front cable is threaded through the vehicle bodywork to meet and be attached to the rear brake cable. If a release cable is used, it is typically assembled to the vehicle instrument panel, then led to the parking brake operating mechanism to which it is then attached. The brake adjustment procedure then occurs. This procedure varies widely from one vehicle manufacturer to another, but still must be done.
It is also the usual practice to place a part of the operating lever in the brake tension force path with the parking brake operating mechanism locked in the parking brake applied position, thus keeping that lever, including its pivot, in the brake tension path for the entire period of time that the parking brake is applied, whether it be for hours, days, or even weeks. This requires that the operating lever be relatively bulky and strong, and made of a material to withstand such stress for long periods of time. Even when the operating lever is bypassed after locking, the mechanism does not use less hefty materials and structural elements than are otherwise used, and does not have the locking mechanism in a pivotally mounted housing to reduce side loads.

Parking brake mechanism and methods of assembly and operation


A method is provided to configure a multiple-output phase-locked loop frequency synthesizer based upon a desired set of output frequencies. The method includes an act of selecting a candidate output frequency(s) for the synthesizer's VCO and corresponding configurations for the output dividers. Based upon the candidate output frequency(s) and corresponding output divider configurations, the method provides another act of selecting a suitable feedback signal and input and feedback divider configurations. The resulting various potential configurations for the frequency synthesizer are tested based upon predetermined suitable criteria to provide a selected frequency synthesizer configuration.

Phase-locked loops are often used as clock regenerators or frequency synthesizers in digital systems. By including multiple output dividers, a phase-locked loop with a single VCO output frequency may act as a frequency synthesizer that generates multiple output frequencies. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a multiple-output phase-locked loop frequency synthesizer 100. Frequency synthesizer 100 synthesizes five output signals 105 having frequencies f1 through f5, respectively. Depending upon the frequency division provided by a corresponding output divider 110 for each output signal 105, each of the frequencies f1 through f5 is a fraction of the output frequency of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) 115. One of the output signals 105 is selected by a multiplexer 140 for use as a feedback signal, divided by a feedback divider 145, and received at a phase detector 150. Similarly, phase detector 150 also receives a divided version of an input signal 130 after processing by an input divider 155. A loop filter 160 receives the output of phase detector 150 and drives VCO 115. In this fashion, depending upon the settings of input divider 155, feedback divider 145, output dividers 110, and multiplexer 140, the synthesis of frequencies f1 through f5 is kept coherent with the frequency of input signal 130.
Although operation of frequency synthesizer 100 is relatively straightforward, configuring it to provide a desired set of output frequencies is not. Instead, considerable preparation is required in the configuration of the various dividers, the selection of the feedback signal, and the selection of a candidate VCO output frequency to provide the desired output frequencies based upon an input reference frequency of an input signal 130. For example, if each of the seven dividers 155, 145, and 110 in frequency synthesizer 100 has 32 settings (5 bit selection), these dividers alone provide 327 different configurations. Taking into account the additional freedom one has in choosing a feedback signal from the five output signals 105, frequency synthesizer 100 may be configured over one hundred billion different ways. Given such a large search space, it is impractical to search for optimal solutions through a brute force application. Moreover, the non-linear interaction of the various dividers prevents easy convergence to an optimal solution in an analytical approach.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved techniques to configure multiple-output frequency synthesizers.

Method for configuring multiple-output phase-locked loop frequency synthesizer


A crane carrying vehicle for transporting track ties comprises an elongated machine frame supported on undercarriages for movement on rails in an operating direction, the machine frame comprising a storage section for temporarily storing track ties and having two side walls extending in this direction, the side walls being spaced from each other in a transverse direction extending perpendicularly to the operating direction by a distance corresponding at least to the length of the track ties. A track tie supporting platform in the storage section may be tilted between a horizontally extending loading position and an unloading position extending at an angle to the loading position, and the vehicle carries a power-adjustable pivotal crane outrigger with a gripping device for gripping track ties.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crane carrying vehicle for transporting track ties, which comprises an elongated machine frame extending in a longitudinal direction and supported on undercarriages for movement on rails in this direction, the machine frame comprising a tie transporting section for temporarily storing track ties, and a power-adjustable pivotal crane outrigger with a gripping device for gripping track ties.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such crane carrying vehicles are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,794,861, 4,829,907, 4,884,509, and 4,911,599. These patents described mobile installations for loading, transporting and unloading as well as exchanging railroad track ties, which are comprised of a plurality of work cars as well as freight cars for transporting worn and new ties, the cars being coupled together in a work train. A track is mounted on top of the side walls of gondola-type freight cars, and a gantry crane as well as a crane carrying vehicle run on the track for movement in the longitudinal direction of the installation. The gantry crane is used for removing the worn ties and discharging them into empty freight cars as well as for bringing new ties to the work cars. The crane carrying vehicle has a power-adjustable crane outrigger with a gripping device, which is used to grip a bundle of new ties in the storage space of a freight car, to hoist it and to place it on a longitudinally extending moving conveyor band for temporary storage. This conveyor band is mounted on a frame connected to the machine frame of the crane carrying vehicle and movable therewith so that it forms a tie transporting section from which the gantry crane periodically removes a layer of temporarily stored track ties and moves them to the working site.
A similar crane carrying vehicle on a tie exchange machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,461. A vertically adjustable crane outrigger conveys worn and new ties from and to a tie depositing device on the machine, and the machine frame of the vehicle comprises a section for temporarily storing a small number of ties during their transport by the crane carrying vehicle between the machine and the freight cars.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,301 describes a mobile tie exchange machine with a device for pulling worn ties, a device for inserting new ties and a rotatable crane mounted on the machine frame between these devices. The crane enables the worn ties to be temporarily stored on a section of the machine frame during the tie exchange operation.

Crane carrying vehicle for transporting track ties

Franz Plasser Bahnbaumaschinen-Industriegesellschaft m.b.H.


A seal assembly is disposed in an annular recess in a cylinder chamber between a pump cavity and a pump exterior. The seal assembly includes a main seal and a back-up seal and seals to a pump plunger disposed within the cylinder chamber. The back-up seal includes an extrusion recess extending from a surface of the back-up seal adjacent the main seal along an inner or an outer diameter of the back-up seal. During pumping operations the plunger strokes through the cylinder chamber causing the main seal to extrude into the extrusion recess to form a seal between the plunger and the cylinder chamber.

In oil field operations, reciprocating pumps are often used for various purposes. Reciprocating pumps utilize a plunger that reciprocates in and out of a pump housing to move fluid through a cavity defined by the pump housing. A motor rotates a crankshaft connected to the plunger to pull fluid into the pump cavity through a fluid intake and push fluid out of the pump cavity through a pump outlet. The plunger extends through a cylinder chamber of the pump housing to interact with the cavity. A seal in the cylinder chamber of the pump housing prevents leakage of fluid from around the plunger during pumping operations. Generally, a seal or packing assembly is composed of different types of seals to increase the sealing impact of the seal assembly. The seal assembly is disposed within a recess of the cylinder chamber.
In one type of seal assembly, a main seal or pressure ring is sandwiched between at least two other seal types. Generally the main seal will be formed of a pliable or rubber-like material. During operation, the seal assembly is compressed, causing the main seal to flair into contact with the pump housing at the cylinder chamber and the plunger. The rubber material of the main seal flows like a thick liquid during operation, which results in the pressure in the main seal to drop due to flow loss and wall friction loss. The lower pressure allows the higher pressure of the pumped fluid to flow around both sides of the main seal, causing it to hydraulically float and preventing seal formation. Instead, the seal assembly seals at narrow gaps formed between a ring adjacent the main seal and both the housing and the plunger. The pliant material of the main seal will flow into this gap, increasing the contact pressure between the elastomer and the walls of the recess. The contact pressure is higher than the pumping pressure, which causes the main seal to form a seal in the narrow gaps. The narrow gaps run the length of the adjacent ring. The narrow width of the gaps and the length of the extrusion into the gaps may exceed the pliant properties of the main seal, causing extreme fatigue and failure of the main seal, and ultimately failure of the pump. Thus, a seal assembly is needed that provides a seal between the plunger and the pump housing at the cylinder chamber while relieving stress and fatigue on the main seal to extend the life of the main seal and ultimately of the packing assembly.

Plunger packing with wedge seal having extrusion recess


A foot shape information distributing system for distributing foot shape information including cross section data generated based on anatomical feature points of a foot. Eleven defined cross sections (A to K) are determined and stored. Server machine distributes foot shape information including the same cross section data and the same feature points as user terminal stores. Based upon the cross sections, shoes are selected or manufactured for a customer.

(1) Until now, it has been common for people to try to select the well fitting shoe based on the foot size (length) and width. But the information on the size and width is not enough to select the well fitting shoe, because the individual feet have a variety of forms. Therefore, the new foot information format which represents foot shape feature has been desired instead of the foot size and width information.
(2) For the recent decades, the optical scanning system has been developed and used for three dimensional foot shape measurement. The scanned data is better in representing the complicated foot form than the traditional craftsmanship measurement data using the tape measure and the height gauge.
However, it has not been possible to identify which part of foot has to be compared as the correct position, or which position on the foot has to be the base point for the foot measurement in the case of comparison between or among the plural foot shapes. Thus, the quantitative comparison of three dimensional foot data has not been possible, even though the big/small judgment has been possible.
(3) And the data size of the scanned raw data is so large, that it makes network communication load heavy. Then the efficient and light data format has been desired to reduce the data size.
(4) There has been the FFD technique which is a technology to compare the three dimensional forms.    (T. W. Sederberg: Free Form Deformation of Solid Geometric Models, proceedings of ACM SINGGRAPH'86 in Computer & Graphics, 20–4, 151–160 (1986))
The following references relate to the FFD technique:                Japanese Patent Application Disclosure Hei10-240964 (Reference 1)        International Patent Application No. PCT/JP00/02297 (Reference 2)
When this FFD technique is used for deformation/comparison of plural three dimensional form data, each three dimensional form data has to have the corresponding landmarks. For example, if there are two three dimensional forms data, they must have the landmarks, such as the rearmost point of heel and the tip of great toe, which have the same anatomical meaning in every foot.
The FFD technique can quantify the difference between the two forms by deforming the landmarks of one foot to become those of the other form.
Until now, the FFD technique has not been applied for deformation/comparison of plural foot forms, because this technique can not be used for the three dimensional form data without landmarks, even if they were distributed.
(5) Over and above, there are some unsuitable cases to determine the landmark position on the surface of the scanned foot data without landmarks. It is difficult to determine the correct position of the anatomical landmark on the fleshy and smooth foot surface. It is also difficult to determine the landmark position only from the three dimensional foot surface data, because the differences in the three dimensional morphology in the fleshy and thin foot are large.

Foot shape information distributing network system

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology


According to an embodiment, a method for accessing a cell includes: a first access step of taking out a cartridge from the cell or inserting the cartridge into the cell in an initial stop position; and a second access step of taking out the cartridge from the cell or inserting the cartridge into the cell in one or more positions in the vicinity of the initial stop position until the taking-out or insertion operation succeeds in a case where the first access step has failed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for accessing a cell that take out/insert a cartridge from or into the cell, and more particularly, to a system and method for accessing a cell that move a picker mechanism, which is used for carrying the cartridge, to the front of a target cell among a plurality of cells arranged in a matrix form in a magazine, and then, take out a cartridge that has been inserted into the target cell and put the cartridge on the picker mechanism, or unload a cartridge that has been put on the picker mechanism and insert the cartridge into the target cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
Programs and data used in a computer are, in general, stored in a hard disk drive and transferred, as needed, from the hard disk drive to a main memory at execution time of the program. The hard disk drive is constantly at the risk of being damaged, and a given limitation is imposed on the capacity thereof. Therefore, a backup device that can store a large volume of programs and data with high reliability is required, even if the backup device operates at a low speed. As the backup device, a magneto-optical disk drive, a DVD drive, a tape drive, and the like are available. Among them, a magnetic tape drive is excellent in terms of reliability, storage capacity, and cost-performance, and a collective magnetic tape drive is used in order to back up a tremendous volume of data.
A magazine is mounted on the collective magnetic tape drive. The magazine is proved with a plurality of cells arranged in a matrix form. Each cell houses a magnetic tape cartridge (hereinafter, referred to merely as "cartridge"). An accessor mechanism including a picker mechanism takes out a cartridge required in each occasion from a cell that houses the cartridge and feeds the taken out cartridge to a tape drive. After completion of recording or reproduction operation in the tape drive, the accessor mechanism feeds the cartridge from the tape drive to the cell and inserts the cartridge into the cell.
It is necessary that the picker mechanism that carries a cartridge is correctly stopped at the front of the target cell in order to complete the taking-out/insertion operation of the cartridge from/into the target cell normally. The size of the conventional collective magnetic tape drive was comparatively large, and accordingly a distance between the adjacent cells was comparatively long, so that accuracy of the stop position of the picker mechanism has not been strictly required.
However, a high-capacity collective magnetic tape drive with a small size has been recently required. In order to obtain such a small-sized collective magnetic tape drive, the size of the magazine, which is a great factor that determines the size of the collective magnetic tape drive, must be reduced under the condition that the number of cartridges that can be housed in the collective magnetic tape drive should be equal or more than the number of cartridges in the conventional collective magnetic tape drive. Therefore, assuming that the same cartridges as used in the conventional tape drive are used, a distance between the adjacent cells must be reduced as much as possible. This accordingly requires an increase in the accuracy of the stop position of the picker mechanism relative to the cell. Even if a position control servo is used to improve the accuracy of an absolute stop position of the picker mechanism at shipment time, it is difficult to improve or maintain the accuracy of the stop position of the picker mechanism relative to the cell due to attachment errors, dimension errors, distortion, wear of movable parts, secular change and the like of mechanical parts constituting the magazine.

System and method for accessing a cartridge cell that compensates for misalignment between the system and the cell


A game apparatus generates a game image for display on a display screen. A size and a shape of an attack input supplied to the game apparatus is determined and one or more characteristics of an attacked game character is changed based on one or both of the size and shape of the supplied attack input.

Conventionally, there have been proposed game apparatuses which can be operated using an input device other than a controller having a cross-key pad and buttons. For example, there is a conventional game system for playing a game using a sword-like controller to attack enemy characters in the game. In this game system, a position of the sword-like controller and an amount of variation in the position per unit of time are detected by a sensor, and a degree of damage caused to an enemy character by attack is determined in accordance with the speed or amplitude of swing of the sword-like controller. In such a conventional game system, the player is able to feel as if he/she is attacking the enemy characters in the game using a real sword.
In the above conventional game system, the degree of damage caused to an enemy character is determined in accordance with the speed or amplitude of swing of the sword-like controller, and the means of attacking the enemy characters is limited to a sword, lacking variation in attack. Such simple means of attacking makes the game itself monotonous, easily boring the player.
Specifically, one input operation uniquely makes one type of attack action, and therefore the game easily bores the player. It is important in particular for new games to enable a variety of types of attacks including, for example, not only a direct attack by a sword but also an attack by magic, and also to enable a damage degree and an area affected by an attack to be designated, thereby keeping the player from becoming bored with the game.
Therefore, an aspect of an exemplary illustrative embodiment is a game system which enables various game operations to provide a player with an opportunity to play a game in various manners.
The exemplary illustrative embodiments herein have the following features to attain the aspect mentioned above. It should be noted that reference numerals and supplemental remarks in parentheses merely indicate correspondence with a preferred embodiment which will be described further below for the purpose of better understanding of the exemplary illustrative embodiments, and do not restrict the scope of the present invention.
A first aspect of an exemplary illustrative embodiment is directed to a computer-readable storage medium having a game program stored therein, the game program causing a computer of a game apparatus (1), which includes a display screen (a first LCD 11) for displaying a game image and a touch panel (13) provided on the display screen, to implement a method comprising: a game image display control step (a CPU core 21 implementing steps S41; hereinafter, only step numbers are shown); a coordinate detection step (S53); a shape identification step (S64); a size calculation step (S66); a basic condition determination step (S65); an effectiveness determination step (S67); and a characteristic parameter change step (S77). The game image display control step allows a game image comprising one or more game characters (enemy characters 31 and 32) to be displayed on the display screen. The coordinate detection step detects a coordinate value at predetermined time intervals, the coordinate value indicating a position on the touch panel where a player's input is provided. The shape identification step identifies a graphical shape of an input trajectory represented by a coordinate value group (an input coordinate list 22a) detected by the coordinate detection step. The size calculation step calculates a size of the graphical shape of the input trajectory represented by the coordinate value group detected by the coordinate detection step. The basic condition determination step determines a basic condition (an attack style) for changing a characteristic parameter (HP or MP of an enemy character), which indicates a characteristic of a game character, based on the graphical shape identified by the shape identification step. The effectiveness determination step determines an effectiveness of the basic condition for the game character based on the size calculated by the size calculating step. The characteristic parameter change step changes the characteristic parameter of the game character based on the basic condition determined by the condition determination step and the effectiveness determined by the effectiveness determination step.
Further, the method may further comprise a character selection step (S71). The character selection step selects at least one game character having a character parameter to be changed, from among the one or more game characters comprising the game image. In this case, the characteristic parameter change step changes only the characteristic parameter of the at least one game character selected by the character selection step.
A second aspect of an exemplary illustrative embodiment is directed to a computer-readable storage medium having a game program stored therein, the game program causing a computer of a game apparatus (1), which includes a display screen for displaying a game image and a touch panel (13) provided on the display screen (a first LCD 11), to implement a method comprising: a game image display control step (S41); a coordinate detection step (S53); a shape identification step (S64); a character selection step (S71); a basic condition determination step (S65); and a characteristic parameter change step (S77). The game image display control step allows a game image comprising game characters (enemy characters 31 and 32) to be displayed on the display screen. The coordinate detection step detects a coordinate value at predetermined time intervals, the coordinate value indicating a position on the touch panel where a player's input is provided. The shape identification step identifies a graphical shape of an input trajectory represented by a coordinate value group (an input coordinate list 22a) detected by the coordinate detection step. The character selection step selects at least one game character having a characteristic parameter (HP or MP of an enemy character), which indicates a characteristic of the game character and is required to be changed, from among the game characters comprising the game image based on an area on the display screen which is defined by the input trajectory. The basic condition determination step determines a basic condition (e.g. an attach style) for changing the characteristic parameter, which indicates the characteristic of the game character, based on the graphical shape identified by the shape identification step. The characteristic parameter change step changes the characteristic parameter of the at least one game character selected by the character selection step, based on the basic condition determined by the condition determination step.
Further, the method may further comprise a size calculation step (S66) and an effectiveness determination step (S67). The size calculation step calculates a size of the graphical shape of the input trajectory represented by the coordinate value group detected by the coordinate detection step. The effectiveness determination step determines an effectiveness of the basic condition for the at least one game character based on the size calculated by the size calculating step. In this case, the characteristic parameter change step changes the characteristic parameter of the at least one game character based on the effectiveness of the basic condition determined by the effectiveness determination step.
Furthermore, the characteristic parameter change step may change a degree of change in the characteristic parameter in accordance with a number of the at least one game character selected by the character selection step.
Further still, the method may further comprise a change representation addition step (S76). The change representation addition step changes the game image in a different manner in accordance with a type of the basic condition determined by the graphical shape of the input trajectory after the graphical shape of the input trajectory is identified by the shape identification step.
Further still, the method may further comprise a trajectory display control step (S56). The trajectory display control step displays the input trajectory in a position on the display screen which corresponds to the coordinate value detected by the coordinate detection step.
Further still, a plurality of pieces of reference graphics data indicating types of the basic condition and predetermined shapes may be stored in the game apparatus. In this case, the shape identification step selects a piece of reference graphics data, which indicates a shape most analogous to a shape represented by the coordinate value group, from among the plurality of pieces of reference graphics data stored in the game apparatus, and then the shape identification step determines the shape represented by the selected piece of reference graphics data as the graphical shape of the input trajectory.
Further still, the method may further comprise a vector data group calculation step and a correction step. The vector data group calculation step calculates a vector data group (a vector data list 22b) indicating a distance and a direction between sequential coordinate values based on the coordinate value group detected by the coordinate detection step. The correction step corrects a plurality of sequential pieces of vector data indicating a same direction and included in the vector data group, so as to be represented as a piece of vector data. In this case, the shape identification step selects a piece of reference graphics data indicating a shape most analogous to a shape of the vector data group (input trajectory data 22c) corrected by the correction step.
Note that an exemplary embodiment also provides a game apparatus comprising: a storage medium (a WRAM 22 or a cartridge (17) having the above game program stored therein; and a program implementing section (a CPU core 21) for implementing the game program stored in the storage medium.
In the first aspect, two elements, which comprise a basic condition for changing (increasing/decreasing) a characteristic parameter of a game character and an effectiveness of the basic condition, are determined based on a graphical shape and a size of an input trajectory provided in one input operation by the user. Accordingly, it is possible to make more diverse changes to the characteristic parameter by a simpler input operation. Moreover, the graphical shape is directly inputted via a touch panel on which the game character is displayed, and therefore it is possible for the user to more intuitively perform an input operation with higher accuracy. Note that the basic condition as described herein corresponds to, for example, the type of magic for attacking an enemy character, the type of attack other than the magic, an attack style including a combination of magic and an attack other than the magic, or the type of magic for recovering the player character's power. Thus, for example, in a battle game of attacking enemy characters, it is possible to realize more diverse attack styles based on the first aspect. That is, in the first aspect, various game operations are realized, whereby it is possible to provide a player with an opportunity to play a game in various manners. Moreover, it is possible to provide a game which allows the user to experience a feeling of operation which is intuitive and not monotonous compared to, particularly, a game system for use with a game with command input-type battle scenes.
In the case where the method further includes the character selection step, not all game characters displayed on the display screen are considered to have a character parameter to be changed, and a game character/game characters having a character parameter to be changed is/are determined by an area defined by an input trajectory on the display screen. That is, the game character/game characters having a character parameter to be changed is/are changed in accordance with an input position on the touch panel, and therefore more diverse game processes are provided in accordance with input operations, thereby making the game more enjoyable.
In the second aspect, two elements, which comprise a game character having a characteristic parameter to be changed and a basic condition for changing (increasing/decreasing) the characteristic parameter, are determined based on a graphical shape and a position of an input trajectory provided in one input operation by the user. Accordingly, it is possible to make more diverse changes to the characteristic parameter by a simpler input operation. Thus, in the second aspect, as in the first embodiment, for example, in a battle game of attacking enemy characters, it is possible to realize more diverse attack styles in accordance with diverse input operations via the touch panel. That is, in the second aspect, various game operations are realized, whereby it is possible to provide a player with an opportunity to play a game in various manners so as not to bore the user.
In the case where a degree of change in the characteristic parameter is changed in accordance with the number of game characters selected by the character selection step, the degree of the characteristic parameter is changed in accordance with not only the shape of the input trajectory, etc., but also the position of the game character on the display. Accordingly, the game unfolds differently each time the player performs the same input operation. Thus, it is possible to provide a player with an opportunity to play the game in various manners. Moreover, the player is required to pay attention to the position of the game character on the display screen, while performing the input operation, making the game more complex and difficult to play. Thus, it is possible to provide a game which is not monotonous and/or boring to the player.
Further, in the case where the method further includes the change representation addition step, it is possible to provide the player with a visual effect which varies in accordance with the basic condition, thereby making the game more enjoyable. That is, it is possible to present to the player a change of a game image in accordance with the graphical shape of the input trajectory. Moreover, the player is able to visually and intuitively know how the player him/herself is performing an input operation. Accordingly, the player is able to readily know whether the input operation is performed in a desired manner.
Furthermore, in the case where the method further includes the trajectory display control step, a result of the player's input operation is displayed on the display screen. Accordingly, the player is able to readily know how the player him/herself is performing an input operation. Thus, the player is able to readily know whether the input operation is performed in a desired manner.
Further still, in the case where a plurality of pieces of reference graphics data are stored in the game apparatus, it is possible to readily identify a graphical shape of the input trajectory.
Further still, in the case where the method further includes the vector data group calculation step and the correction step, the shape of a trajectory drawn on the touch panel by the player is simplified by the correction step. Accordingly, it is possible to simplify a process for comparing the vector data group to the reference graphics data, thereby increasing the processing speed, while reducing a processing load on the computer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Game system for varying parameter of a character


Methods and apparatus for providing improving optical signal transmission results over standard mode fiber using a combination of negative chirp, low extinction ratio, and self-phase modulation transmission techniques in combination are described. The use of pre-transmission signal distortion in combinations with one or more of the other transmission techniques is also described. Pre-transmission signal distortion may be introduced by controlling a modulator with a large symmetric AC signal which causes the modulator to operation in a non-linear region or, alternatively, by using a relatively small non-symmetric AC signal to drive the modulator. Use of the small non-symmetric signal has the advantage of reduced power requirements. The pre-transmission distortion acts to counter some of the distortion introduced by the transmission of the signal over an optic fiber.

Communication systems use transmission mediums, e.g., optical fiber, to transmit a signal, e.g., light, which conveys data. The data may correspond to a speech signal or other information. In optical networks Standard Single Mode Fiber (SSMF) is one transmission medium that is used in the art. As data signals are transmitted through SSMF, signal attenuation due to noise and characteristics of the medium, e.g., group-velocity dispersion (GVD), limits the distance a signal can travel. Therefore, one technique used to transmit data across a large distance is to use devices that overcome the dispersion limitation. Using these devices, several SSMFs can be coupled together to traverse the large distance.
In theory any distance can be traversed by using an appropriate number of repeater devices and SSMFs, but these devices add complexity and cost to a communication system. Therefore in order to lower the number of repeater device needed in a system, techniques for increasing the transmission distance of SSMF have been developed.
A first known technique for lengthening the transmission distance of SSMF includes using negative chirp. See, e.g., A. H. Gnauck, S. K. Korotky, J. J. Veselka, J. Nagel, C. T. Kemmerer, W. J. Minford, and D. T. Moser, Dispersion Penalty Reduction Using an Optical Modulator with Adjustable Chirp, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., vol. 3, No. 10, pp. 916-918 (1991). Another known technique includes Adjusting extinction ratio (ER). The former works alone. The latter works only when combined with the former. See, e.g., Y. K. Park, T. V. Nguyen, P. A. Morton, J. E. Johnson, O. Mizuhara, J. Jeong, L. D. Tzeng, P. D. Yeates, T. Fullowan, P. F. Sciortino, A. M. Sergent, W. T. Tsang, and R. D. Yadvish, Dispersion-penalty Free Transmission Over 130 km Standard Fiber Using a 1.55 μm 10 Gb/s Integrated EA/DFB Laser With Low-extinction Ratio and Negative Chirp, IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., Vol. 8, No. 9, pp. 1255-1257 (1996) which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
A third technique for achieving a long transmission distance on SSMF is self phase modulation (SPM). SPM involves relying on the inherent fiber characteristics in combination with the input power level to provide suitable phase modulation. The use of self-phase modulation in combination with negative chip has been shown to be beneficial. See, J. Jeong, Y. K. Park, S. K. Kim and T. V. Nguyen, O. Mizuhara and T. W. Oh, 10 Gb/s Transmission Performance For Positive-And Negative-Chirped Transmitters With the Self-Phase Modulation Effect, IEEE Photon. Technol. Letter, Vol. 10, No. 9, pp. 1307-1309 (1998) which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
Given the complexity of optical transmission systems it is often difficult to predict the effect of using various transmission techniques in combination on overall transmission results. A technique which improves transmission results in one combination may degrade transmission results when used in another combination.
The first (i.e., negative chirp) and the third (i.e., SPM) of the above discussed three techniques for improving optical transmission distances have been shown to work alone. From the above discussed papers it is known that the use of negative chirp in combination with adjusting the ER or SPM can improve transmission results. However, what the effect of using negative chip, adjusting the ER and using SPM in combination is not known or inherently obvious from the above cited papers.
In view of the above discussion, it is apparent that there is a need for improved methods and apparatus for increasing transmission distances over transmission mediums, e.g., SSMF. It is desirable that such techniques produce predictable results. In addition, from a cost perspective, it is desirable that at least some of the techniques be relatively easy to implement in terms of hardware.

Methods and apparatus for optical data transmission over standard fiber


A golf car towing hitch system for towing a three or four wheeled golf car behind a passenger vehicle or light truck with the rear two wheels of the golf car elevated off of the ground. A hoist mounted on a rotable mast for lifting the rear of the golf car is included. Receiver or bar hitches may be used.

A. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of devices for towing a golf car behind a tow vehicle. Specifically, hitch and hoist combinations which allow a golf car to be towed by a common passenger vehicle or light truck with the rear wheels of the golf car raised off the ground and the front wheel or wheels in contact with the road are disclosed and claimed.
B. The Background Art
In the prior art, golf cars were not towed directly by a tow vehicle. Transportation of golf cars in the prior art was accomplished by placing the golf car onto a trailer and towing the trailer behind a tow vehicle. The need to use a trailer to tow a golf car had the disadvantages of being expensive because it was necessary to purchase, register and insure a trailer, difficult to maneuver due to inherent trailer size, weight and control characteristics, and burdensome to tow in terms of weight because the tow vehicle had to tow the combined weight of the golf car and trailer. When the trailer was not in use, it had to be stored in a driveway or garage.


A distribution structure of a vertical shaft impact crusher includes a core having a hole into which a vertical shaft is inserted. A distribution member for horizontally distributing an aggregate that is vertically provided to the crusher is fused on an outer face of the core. The distribution member includes a plurality of clustered scrapped tips including hard metal, and a fusion material interposed between the scrapped tips to connect the scrapped tips to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distribution structure, a vertical shaft impact crusher having the distribution structure and a method of fabricating the distribution structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a distribution structure for horizontally distributing an aggregate that is supplied in a vertical shaft impact crusher for pulverizing the aggregate into gravels and sands, a vertical shaft impact crusher having the distribution structure and a method of fabricating the distribution structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A natural aggregate is pulverized using a crusher in accordance with various applications. The crusher includes a vertical shaft impact crusher. The vertical shaft impact crusher pulverizes the natural aggregate by crushing a highly accelerated aggregate against a crushing face. The vertical shaft impact crusher may be classified into an anvil type crusher and a rock-on-rock type crusher.
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view illustrating a conventional anvil type impact crusher that is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,177.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional impact crusher includes a crushing chamber 1 and a feeding hopper 2 disposed over the crushing chamber 1. A rotor 3 for providing a centrifugal force to an aggregate is positioned in the crushing chamber 1. The aggregate is loaded into the rotor 3 through the feeding hopper 2. A conoid distribution structure 5 is arranged at a central portion of a bottom face of the rotor 3. The distribution structure 5 distributes the aggregate, which is vertically loaded into the rotor 3, in a horizontal direction. The distribution structure 5 is fixed to a vertical shaft for rotating the rotor 3 so that the distribution structure 5 is rotated together with the rotor 3. An anvil 4 is mounted on an inner wall of the crushing chamber 1. The aggregate is crushed against the anvil 4.
The aggregate loaded into the rotor 3 is crushed against the distribution structure 5 and is then moved in the horizontal direction. Thus, the distribution structure 5 together rotated with the rotor 3 violently chafes against the aggregate so that the distribution structure 5 is readily worn. As a result, the distribution structure 5 is periodically replaced with new one.
Meanwhile, the conventional distribution structure 5 includes high chromium steel. The distribution structure 5 including high chromium steel may have life span of about 150 hours. Thus, the conventional vertical shaft impact crusher is suspended at an interval of about 150 hours to replace the distribution structure 5 with new one. This causes reduction of an operational efficiency of the conventional vertical shaft impact crusher.
To overcome the above-mentioned problem, ceramic or tungsten carbide having a wear resistance higher than that of high chromium steel may be used for a material of the conventional distribution structure. However, although the conventional distribution structure including ceramic or tungsten carbide has life span of about 10 times to about 15 times longer than that of the distribution structure including high chromium steel, ceramic or tungsten carbide is more expensive than high chromium steel so that cost for fabricating the distribution structure including ceramic or tungsten carbide is about 30 times to about 40 times more expensive than that for fabricating the distribution structure including high chromium steel. As a result, ceramic or tungsten carbide may not be realistically used for a material of the distribution structure in the light of economy.

Distribution structure, vertical shaft impact crusher having the distribution structure and method of fabricating the distribution structure


A tunable cavity resonator includes a substrate, a cap structure, and a tuning assembly. The cap structure extends from the substrate, and at least one of the substrate and the cap structure defines a resonator cavity. The tuning assembly is positioned at least partially within the resonator cavity. The tuning assembly includes a plurality of fixed-fixed MEMS beams configured for controllable movement relative to the substrate between an activated position and a deactivated position in order to tune a resonant frequency of the tunable cavity resonator.

Tunable cavity resonators are electronic components that are useable as filters for radio frequency electromagnetic signals, among other types of signals. In particular, tunable cavity resonators using the evanescent mode cavity-based implementation are effective filters that are low-loss and widely tunable. Additionally, cavity resonators using the evanescent mode implementation typically offer a good balance between filter size, signal loss, spurious-free dynamic range, and tuning range.
Tunable cavity resonators typically include either a piezoelectric tuning device or an electrostatic microelectromechanical systems ("MEMS") diaphragm tuning device. Piezoelectrically-tuned cavity resonators typically yield excellent radio frequency filtering results. These types of tuning devices, however, are typically large, with a diameter of approximately twelve to thirteen millimeters, and have slow response speeds that are on the order of one millisecond or more. MEMS diaphragms also typically yield excellent radio frequency filtering results, but have a low unloaded quality factor ("Qu") due to effects from the biasing network that is used to control the MEMS diaphragm. Accordingly, known tuning devices for cavity resonators exhibit a tradeoff between size, unloaded quality factor, frequency tuning, and tuning speed.
Accordingly, further developments based on one or more of the above-described limitations are desirable for tunable cavity resonators.

Tunable cavity resonator including a plurality of MEMS beams


An applicator device comprises a front portion and a gripping portion which are rotatable relative to each other to displace a stick of spreadable material axially by means of a screwthreaded spindle. The stick is disposed in a stick tube limitedly axially movable with respect to the front portion, and a first spring is disposed between the stick tube and the front portion. At its rear part which is towards the gripping portion the front portion has a coupling part for non-rotatable connection to a nut member disposed in the gripping portion. The nut member has radially elastically resilient claw portions which can be brought into engagement with the screwthread of the screwthreaded spindle by the coupling part of the front portion bearing against the claws. A second spring is disposed in the gripping portion to urge the screwthreaded spindle rearwardly therein.

One form of applicator device comprising a stick made of a material which can be applied to a surface by being rubbed or spread thereover, referred to herein as a spreadable material, as is to be found in DE 37 28 427 C2, comprises an elongate shaft-like gripping portion in which there is a central cavity axially movably accommodating a screwthreaded spindle which is screwed through an axially immovable nut member. The device further has a casing front portion which is non-rotatably connected to the nut member and in relation to which the gripping portion is rotatable. A stick of a spreadable material is disposed in the casing front portion and can be moved out of same by use of the screwthreaded spindle. Disposed at the front end of the screwthreaded spindle, for moving the stick out of the casing front portion, is a pushing unit which comprises a piston and a piston sleeve embracing the piston, the piston being joined to the front end of the screwthreaded spindle. By virtue of that design configuration the applicator device can be selectively combined with casing front portions provided with extruded or cast sticks. It is in fact possible with that device for the stick to be moved out of the casing front portion, but there is no possibility of the stick being retracted back into same.
DE 38 35 680 A1 discloses a process for producing a stick, more particularly for cosmetic pencils and the like, together with such a stick for a cosmetic pencil, and a cosmetic pencil including such a stick. The operating procedure involved therein is such that the stick is cast in a horizontally disposed mold which is open at least along a part of its peripheral surface. Before the stick material is cast therein, a push member which is displaceable in the axial direction into the mold cavity of the corresponding plastic mold portions can be introduced into the mold arrangement. The positive connection between the stick and the push member, which connection can be produced when the stick is cast in the mold, results in a stick which can be pushed to and fro in the axial direction, with the push member. Consequently, that cosmetic pencil also permits the stick thereof to be retracted into the pencil. The stick is connected at all times with the push member to form a unit, and that is something which represents a not inconsiderable consumption of material. A level of expenditure in terms of production which is not immaterial is also incurred by virtue of the fact that an externally screwthreaded portion is provided at the rearward end part of the push member, and the elongate shaft-like gripping portion thereof is provided with an internal screwthread along the whole of its axial extent. The push member with the externally screwthreaded portion, together with the stick which is positively connected thereto, is only suitable for one-trip use and is thus a disposable article, and that constitutes a wastage item once the stick has been used up.
An applicator device as is to be found in German utility model No 87 03 023 has a stick which can be moved out of a sleeve-like casing by means of a thrust rod of a spindle-type drive arrangement. The stick can be fixed to a holding portion which is guided longitudinally in the casing of the applicator device and against which bears the thrust rod. The device further includes a coil spring which bears at one end against the casing in the interior thereof and at the other end against the holding portion in order to urge the latter against the thrust rod. That arrangement can thus provide for movement of the stick out of and into the casing. Furthermore, with that arrangement, when the casing portion which contains the stick is withdrawn from the casing portion which contains the spindle drive arrangement, the stick is automatically retracted and thereby protected from damage.
A refill stick pencil such as a cosmetic pencil, as is disclosed in DE 38 35 679 C2, includes a stick which is axially displaceable in a gripping sleeve member having an opening for the stick to project therefrom, under the action of a push member which bears against the rear end of the stick. The push member is connected in the direction of axial movement of the stick to a shaft-like sleeve portion which can be screwed against the gripping sleeve portion. In that arrangement the stick is disposed in a substantially tubular plastic molding which encloses it, wherein the plastic molding is axially fixed relative to the gripping sleeve member in a direction towards the opening through which the stick protrudes therefrom, while the push member engages into the plastic molding in such a way that, upon an axial movement towards the opening through which the stick protrudes from the gripping sleeve member, the push member urges the stick out of the plastic molding, the stick being guided over its entire length in the plastic molding. The push member is axially connected to the plastic molding so that the gripping sleeve member is displaceable axially relative to the plastic molding, with the stick contained therein, in a direction away from the opening through which the stick protrudes from the gripping sleeve member, the frictional force against the inside wall of the plastic molding upon axial movement of the push member towards the opening for the stick to protrude being less than in the opposite direction. That pencil is also intended for one-trip use as a disposable item.
An applicator device or a dispenser for a solid or pasty material to be applied thereby, which is contained in a container and which is discharged by a drive means is disclosed in EP 0 382 591 A1. In that arrangement the container is a tube whose interior defines a cylindrical cavity of any cross-section, the tube having a dispenser opening and the product being contained in the tube between the dispenser opening and an axially displaceable piston or plunger. The piston or plunger is displaced by means of the drive device having a pin, at the head end of which the piston or plunger is disposed. The edges of the dispenser opening are at least partially covered by a layer which serves for application of the material to be dispensed and which is made from a material that is permeable to air. The layer at the edges of the dispenser opening is so arranged that it extends over those edges.
A similar dispenser for a product contained in a cylindrical container of any cross-section, in which the product is contained between the dispenser opening and a movable plunger or piston in the container, is disclosed in EP 0 382 590 A1. The piston or plunger is mounted at the head end of a pin which is displaceable with a stepwise motion by means of a displacement mechanism which is movable by the action of a displaceable actuating member in such a way that displacement of the piston or plunger and thus dispensing of the product can be controlled as desired. The mechanism in that dispenser is provided at a first location with a member which is fixed in relation to the container and a member which is movable in relation to the container, the fixed and the movable members being separated from each other by an elastic zone. The actuating member is non-movably connected to the movable member of the mechanism and is subjected to the return force of the elastic zone so as to be returned to the rest position after the dispenser has been in use. At a second location, the pin is non-rotatable in relation to an element of the arrangement and the pin, for the drive motion thereof in the direction of displacement, has a tooth system cooperating with the mechanism by way of locking means.


Example roll-up doors are disclosed. An example roll-up door includes a track system and a curtain. The curtain blocks a doorway when a leading edge is at a closed position and unblocks the doorway when the leading edge is at an open position. The roll-up door further includes a track roller to vertically travel along a track system. The track roller is to be rotatable relative to the track system. The roll-up door also includes a windbar to be coupled to the track roller. The windbar is closer to the lintel when the leading edge of the curtain is at the open position than when the leading edge is at the closed position. The windbar is to be vertically movable with the track roller and to be rotatable relative to the track roller and rotatable relative to the track system.

Typical roll-up doors comprise a flexible curtain that when the door is open the curtain is wound about a roller above the doorway. To close the door, the curtain unwinds as two vertical tracks guide the curtain down across the doorway. Roll-up doors are typically either powered open and closed or are powered open and descend controllably by gravity to close.
Some roll-up doors are powered by a drive unit that can rotate the curtain's roller in either direction to open or close the door. Other roll-up doors are powered by a drive unit that drivingly engages the curtain itself while the roller takes up any curtain slack as the door opens.
Many roll-up doors in use today, especially larger ones, employ windbars to assist in reducing the negative effects of wind loading. Large doors present a substantial cross-sectional area for the wind to react with. Negative effects include pulling the door curtain edges out of the guide tracks, excessive bowing of the curtain, and increasing the frictional forces between the tracks and the curtain edge to a point where the door will not open and/or close. Some windbars are integral to the door curtain itself. Other windbars are separate and travel relative to the curtain as the door opens and closes.


A first switching element opens or closes a power supply route of an inductive load in accordance with a first driving signal. A clamping element prevents a voltage ot the power supply route from exceeding a first clamp voltage when the power supply route is opened. A second switching element opens or closes the current flow route, provided in parallel with the power supply route, in response to a second driving signal. A rectifying means is responsive to the second switching element to change the clamp voltage to a second clamp voltage when the first switching element is turned off. The second switching element is constituted by a MOSFET. A charging element charges a capacitor of MOSFET.

The present invention relates to a driving apparatus for an inductive load, which is applicable to an electric power supply control system for an inductive load such as an electromagnetic valve or a motor.
According to a fundamental arrangement of a conventional driving apparatus for an inductive load, a switching element is provided in a power supply route extending from a power source to the inductive load. This switching element is on/off controlled in accordance with a driving signal.


There is provided a support module of a sleeve for a transmission line, which is inserted into a part of a plurality of accommodation spaces formed at a flexible sleeve for a transmission line to prevent the sleeve for a transmission line from being slack, including a flexible flat plate; a plurality of bases fixed to the flat plate so as to be arranged in a longitudinal direction of the flat plate; a plurality of slack-preventing blocks that is connected to the bases to be positioned at a top of the flat plate and prevents the flat plate from being slack by coming in contact with each other; and a plurality of bending-degree restricting blocks that is connected to the bases and the slack-preventing blocks to be positioned a bottom of the flat plate and restricts a bending degree of the flat plate by coming in contact with each other.

In recent years, a transmission line such as a cable or an air hose has been widely used to supply energy or transmit a signal in various industrial machines such as semiconductor equipment, a clean room facility, and a robot. Further, a transmission line veyor has been used to move the transmission line while safely protecting the transmission line. The transmission line veyor is also called a cable veyor.
In general, the transmission line veyor includes a plurality of unit blocks that is arranged in a line and a connection part for connecting the plurality of unit blocks. The connection part connects the plurality of unit blocks so as to allow the transmission line veyor to be bent.
However, in the transmission line veyor described above, friction between the unit blocks that are disposed adjacent to each other and friction between the unit blocks and the transmission line may be caused while the transmission line veyor is repeatedly bent and stretched. Accordingly, in the transmission line veyor, noise and dust may be generated while the transmission line veyor is repeatedly bent and stretched. The noise aggravates working conditions and the dust causes malfunction in the industrial machine. For this reason, a countermeasure against such problems needs to be established.
As the countermeasure, a flexible sleeve has a structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a side view of a sleeve for a transmission line, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along A-A′ of FIG. 1.
A sleeve 10 for transmission line includes one end 12 that is fixed to a fixation part of an industrial machine and the other end 14 that is fixed to a movement part of the industrial machine to reciprocate together with the movement part. Further, the sleeve 10 includes a flexible upper member 20 and a flexible lower member 40. Parts of the upper member 20 and parts of the lower member 40 are attached to each other as illustrated in FIG. 2, and transmission lines 16 are inserted into accommodation spaces 50 between other parts of the upper member 20 and other parts of the lower member 40 that are not attached to each other.
Since the sleeve 10 does not have joints, dust and noise are hardly generated even when the sleeve is repeatedly bent and stretched. However, when the sleeve 10 is long and the transmission lines 16 are heavy, the sleeve 10 is slack by the self-weight of the transmission lines 16 as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, a support module for preventing the slack is inserted into two accommodation spaces that are disposed at the outermost positions. Hereinafter, a support module according to the related art will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a side view of a support module of a sleeve for a transmission line according to the related art, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along B-B′ of FIG. 3.
As show in FIGS. 3 and 4, a sleeve support module 60 according to the related art includes a flexible flat plate 62 and a plurality of slack-preventing blocks 64 that is fixed to the flat plate 62 so as to be arranged in a longitudinal direction of the flat plate 62. The flat plate 62 extends to penetrate through lower ends of the slack-preventing blocks 64, so that the slack-preventing blocks 64 are fixed to the flat plate 62.
When the flat plate 62 is bent, the neighboring slack-preventing blocks 64 are spaced apart from each other. However, when the flat plate 62 is stretched, the neighboring slack-preventing blocks 64 come in contact with each other. Accordingly, when the support module 60 is inserted into the accommodation spaces 50 of the sleeve 10 for a transmission line, it is possible to prevent the sleeve 10 from being slack.
However, in the support module 60, the radius of curvature R of the bent flat plate 62 is not restricted. Accordingly, when a force is applied to the support module 60 while being bent as illustrated in FIG. 3, there is a problem in that a bent portion 62a of the flat plate 62 is broken.
Further, in the support module 60, the flat plate 62 extends to penetrate through the lower ends of the slack-preventing blocks 64, so that the slack-preventing blocks 64 are fixed to the flat plate 62. For this reason, there is a problem in that it is difficult to replace only a part of the plurality of slack-preventing blocks 64.
Furthermore, when the support module is inserted into the sleeve 10 and then is not fixed thereto, the support module 60 may be separated from the accommodation spaces 50 during the reciprocating of the other end 14 of the sleeve. Accordingly, a means for fixing the support module 60 to the sleeve 10 is needed.
Moreover, in the support module 60, weights of portions positioned between the bent portion 62a of the flat plate 62 and the other end 14 are offset only by a weak elastic restoring force of the bent flat plate 62. Accordingly, in the support module 60, the radius of curvature R of the sleeve 10 is hardly restricted.
Moreover, in the support module 60, the sleeve 10 is prevented from being slack by allowing the slack-preventing blocks 64 to come in contact with each other, but the slack is prevented only when the sleeve 10 is relatively short. Accordingly, when the sleeve 10 is long, the sleeve 10 is slack even when the support module 60 is used.

Sleeve support module for transmission line


A flowable, granular abrasive material and method of manufacture thereof. The material is comprised of at least one abrasive grain selected from aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, cubic boron nitride and/or diamond and has a organic or inorganic coating comprised of a binder and an abrasive filling material in the amounts of 0.5 to 8% and 1 to 15% by weight, respectively. The filling material may include sulfides, phosphates, carbonates, halogenides, and/or sulfide-, carbonate- and/or halogenide-containing complex compounds. The binder may include a low-viscosity phenol resin, epoxy resin and/or polyurethane resin.

The invention on hand relates to an abrasive grain, the method production of the grain, and the use of the grain, wherein the grain is provided with a coating of an inorganic or organic binder comprised of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, cubic boron nitride and/or diamond, and containing abrasive filling materials. The coating contains at least one abrasive substance.
The use of abrasive substances in the production of abradants has been known, and they are frequently used in practice for abradants on a liner (abrasive bands and abrasive papers) as well as for bonded abradants (abrasive disks). The abrasive substances enter into chemical reactions during the grinding or, respectively, cause physical actions that have a positive impact on the grinding process and that lead to an increase of the serviceable life of the tool while simultaneously reducing or completely avoiding any thermal damages to the work piece. Thus, the intended use of the abrasive substances, similar to that of a high-temperature or high-pressure lubricant, is to reduce the friction between the abrasive grain particle and the work piece; to prevent a fusing of the grinding chip with the grain or with the work piece through a reaction with the fresh chip surface; to absorb the heat that is generated in the form of melting, evaporation, sublimation or dissociation heat; and to protect the cutting edges of the abrasive grain particle from any reaction with the material.
Particularly well-suited abrasive substances have turned out to be, e.g., halogenides (chloride of lead, cryolite, fluorite, potassium tetrafluoroborate, et al.); chalcogenides (pyrite, antimony sulfide, zinc sulfide, molybdenum sulfide, et al.); metals with low melting points (Zn, et al.); and high-pressure lubricants (graphite, et al.).
Usually, during the production of the abrasive, the abrasive filling material, in addition to other fillers, is added to the bonding agent mix that is then further processed into the abradant, together with the abrasive grain and other components of the mix (liquid resin, or others). In addition to the abrasive fillers, inactive fillers are frequently used, such as wood or rock dust, chalk, clays et al., that are usually used to fill plastics (for the purpose of saving resins); or compacting fillers, such as, e.g., glass fibers or others, that are used to increase the firmness of the connecting ridge, and/or fillers such as pumice stone or cork powder with the aid of which the self-sharpening properties of an abrasive disk are enhanced.
A disadvantage of this traditional method must be seen in the fact that the abrasive fillers are distributed evenly across the entire abrasive material. However, their abrasive effect is mostly required at a location where the actual abrasive action occurs, to wit: where the abrasive grain collides with the work piece, i.e. in the immediate vicinity of the abrasive grain. Thus, more abrasive fillers are usually used than would be theoretically necessary which is of significance in so far as suitable substances are frequently very expensive and/or toxic.
In German patent publication DE 2 339 507, abrasive wheels are described that are based on abrasive grains featuring a sealing coating with material-active filler properties.
In each of those cases, it involves coatings that must be seen as specific for the production process and for the corresponding abrasive. Thus, the preferred objective is to make it possible to use hygroscopic, subliming or liquid substances as fillers.
Due to the danger of the formation of agglomerates or agglutination, such coated abrasive grains must be processed immediately. They show the same performance, and it is thus possible to reduce the use of abrasive fillers and to make it possible to use new, less critical fillers.


An ultrasonic motor includes a stator that includes a comb body with a plurality of circumferentially-arranged comb-like projections and a piezoelectric body integrally mounted on the comb body, a rotor rotatable with respect to the stator, the rotor having a contact surface that establishes pressure contact with the stator, and a resin film formed with predetermined hardness on the contact surface of the rotor, the resin film containing a solid lubricant.

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic motor, particularly, to an ultrasonic motor with rotational characteristics and durability thereof being improved and a manufacturing cost thereof being reduced.
An ultrasonic motor is configured with a stator that includes a piezoelectric body with a plurality of polarized piezoelectric segments circumferentially arranged and a rotatable disc-shaped or annular rotor in contact with the stator under a predetermined pressure. In the ultrasonic motor, the piezoelectric body of the stator is vibrated with high frequency voltage being applied thereto. The induced vibration of the piezoelectric body is enhanced in a circumferential direction of the stator by a comb body provided integrally to the piezoelectric body such that the comb body is driven to induce a traveling vibration wave in the circumferential direction. Thereby, the rotor, which frictionally engages with the piezoelectric body, can be rotated around an axis thereof. The comb body has a function of enlarging amplitude of the vibration of the piezoelectric body. However, since the amplitude is generally one micrometer to three micrometers, the comb body is required to be in close contact with the rotor evenly in the circumferential and radial directions of the stator so as to improve rotational efficiency of the rotor (i.e., rotational energy of the rotor to vibration energy of the stator). Therefore, in a conventional ultrasonic motor, when machining surfaces of the comb body and the rotor that contact with each other, high machining accuracy is required so as to regulate profile irregularities and deviations from flatness thereof within several micrometers. In addition, accuracy on the same order is required with respect to a degree of parallelization between the comb body and rotor to be assembled.
In order to meet the aforementioned requirements, a technique is proposed in which there is formed on the surface of the rotor that faces the comb body a slider made of polymer resin that can easily be machined to control the profile irregularity and deviation from flatness (e.g., Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. HEI 9-98587, hereinafter, simply referred to as '587 Publication). In '587 Publication, a technique is further proposed in which the slider is formed from conductive organic material or conductive organic material is applied onto a surface of the slider so as to prevent wear of the slider to be accelerated by static electricity generated on the slider and to prevent rotational efficiency of the rotor from being reduced due to dust adhering to the slider by the electrostatic force.
In '587 Publication, the slider, which is an additional component different from the rotor, is employed as a component of the ultrasonic motor. It leads to increase of the number of components of the ultrasonic motor and needs a further process of attaching the slider to the rotor. Thereby, a manufacturing cost of the ultrasonic motor is increased. Especially when the conductive organic material is applied onto the surface of the slider, an additional applying process is needed, and the manufacturing cost of the ultrasonic motor is further increased. Addition, in '587 Publication, since thickness of the slider or the applied material layer is not discussed, it is not clear whether rotational characteristics required for the ultrasonic motor, such as durability, the number of revolutions in a loaded state, a level of a rotation noise, and rising characteristics, are improved.