Arranging an application apparatus, an exposure apparatus, a developing apparatus, and similar apparatus together within a large yellow room makes it difficult to change a layout in association with a change of a recipe and to streamline a layout area and similar parameter. A yellow room system includes: a plurality of portable unit process apparatuses 50 that each have the same standardized outer shape and include a yellow room configured to shield a exposure light to a photosensitive material formed on a workpiece; conveyance containers 11 and 25 that convey the workpiece between the unit process apparatuses and itself is formed as the yellow room; and a light-shielding coupling structure that couples the unit process apparatus, which is formed on a docking port 56 disposed in the upper portion of a front chamber 80 of the unit process apparatus 50, and the conveyance containers together.

In recent years, the manufacturing line for semiconductor devices includes a plurality of units called bays in which treatment apparatuses with the same type of functions are brought together within a vast clean room. A layout that employs a job-shop system has become mainstream. In the job-shop system, the bays are coupled together by a transfer robot and a belt conveyer.
As the workpiece treated in that manufacturing line, a wafer with a large diameter of, for example, 12 inches is used. In the production system, thousands of semiconductor chips are manufactured from one wafer.
However, with this job-shop system, in the case where a plurality of similar treatment processes are repeated, the conveyance within the bay or the conveyance distance between bays significantly increase in length, and the wait time increases. Thus, the manufacturing time increases. This causes a cost increase, for example, causes an increase in work in process. Therefore, the low productivity may become a problem as a manufacturing line for treating a large amount of the workpieces.
Therefore, instead of the conventional manufacturing line in the job-shop system, a manufacturing line in a flow-shop system is also proposed. In this manufacturing line, semiconductor treatment apparatuses are arranged in the order corresponding to the treatment processes.
While this manufacturing line in the flow-shop system is optimal for manufacturing singular products in large quantities, it is necessary to rearrange the location of the respective semiconductor treatment apparatuses in the manufacturing line in the order corresponding to the treatment flow of the workpiece in the case where the manufacturing procedure (recipe) needs to be changed due to a change of products. However, this rearrangement every time the products are changed is not realistic considering labor and time for the rearrangement. Especially, under the circumstances in which huge semiconductor treatment apparatuses are fixedly disposed within the closed space that is the clean room, it is realistically impossible to rearrange the semiconductor treatment apparatuses each time.
Further, in the conventional semiconductor manufacturing systems, because simultaneous productivity (production quantity per unit time) has been emphasized the most as a critical factor in order to minimize manufacturing costs, diameter scale-up in the workpiece size (silicon wafer size) and increase in the manufacturing unit count (number of orders with respect to a single product) have been given priority, pointing to gigantic manufacturing systems, megafab so to say.
In very large-scale manufacturing systems of this sort, the number of processes has exceeded several hundred, and in proportion to that, the number of bays and number of apparatuses has grown considerably.
Accordingly, although for that reason the throughput of the manufacturing lines as a whole has improved, constructing such megafab requires a facilities investment of several billion dollars, making the overall investment cost a huge sum.
Furthermore, along with such manufacturing systems going very large-scale, apparatus control grows complex and conveyance time and wait time in the conveyance system increase significantly. In response to that the number of works in process that dwell along the production line also increases significantly. Since the unit cost of the large-diameter wafers employed here is extraordinarily high, increase in the number of works in process leads to elevation in costs.
Given these and other such circumstances, productivity as a whole, including facilities investment, is said to be turning in a decreasing direction.
Therein, an approach in which the cleanroom is scaled down by means of a local cleaning production system or similar technique is beginning to gain recognition as an expeditious means in order to reduce the facilities investment having grown that huge. This local cleaning is also effective to reduce environmental control costs at the plant.
As a production example in which a local cleaning production system is applied to the entirety of the process stages at a plant, the front-end process of semiconductor integrated circuit manufacture can be given as a unique example as described in Non-Patent Literature 1. In the front-end process of this semiconductor integrated circuit manufacture, the wafers that are products are housed in containers in, and conveyed among, isolated manufacturing apparatuses. The apparatuses are each equipped with a front chamber. The front chambers have two doors. One is between the apparatus main body and the front chamber, and the other is between the front chamber and the exterior. By operating the apparatus such that one or the other of the doors is always shut, the main-body interior is shielded from the exterior at all times. The wafer containers are coupled to the front chambers. In the coupled state, this has the capacity to shield the wafer atmosphere from the exterior at a certain level of performance, enabling the exchange of wafers between the containers and the manufacturing apparatuses.
Lightness, compactness, and simplicity of the mechanisms are demanded of the containers in order to secure ease of conveyance. To fulfill these demands requires ingenuity in the way the containers open and close—in particular, in the way the container doors are housed when the doors are opened. Specifically, a method for housing the container doors within the wafer containers in being coupled with the front chambers must heed the fact that door-housing space becoming necessary will mean running counter to the demands. Given these factors means that for the doors of the wafer containers, being housed into the inside of the front chamber is an appropriate coupling structure. Hewlett-Packard Co. obtained a patent (Patent Literature 1) on a coupling method in which this point is taken into consideration.
The main features with this patent are that there are three subsystems: (1) front chambers, (2) wafer conveyance containers, and (3) there is a wafer transfer mechanism within the front chambers, and that the two doors are combined together and are moved into a clean internal space. The combination of the two doors is due to the following reasons. On the outside surfaces where the two doors contact the exterior containing fine particles, fine particles will cling to each. The combination of the doors traps these fine particles in between the two, and they are housed into the inside of the front chamber, making it possible to prevent diffusion of the fine particles into the local clean environment.
As illustrated in FIG. 1 (a), a container 1 is composed of a container main body 3 and a container door 4, and a front chamber 2, of a front-chamber main body 5 and a front-chamber door 6, with sealing portions provided in three locations: (a) container main body 3—container door 4, (b) front-chamber main body 5—front-chamber door 6, and (c) container main body 3—front-chamber main body 5. The key point with this patent is the sandwiching capture by the two doors for fine particles attached to the door surfaces, but that does not mean that the sandwiched fine particles are eliminated from that region. And countermeasures against the risk of fine particles scattering off the edge surfaces of the sandwiched doors and contaminating the wafers are not taken. Furthermore, since it does not amount to a structure that seals the coupling between the front chamber and with the wafer conveyance container, it lacks function of completely preventing invasion of external wafer contaminating material into the front chamber and into the wafer conveyance container.
Next, Asyst Technologies Inc. patented (Patent Literature 2) an improved mechanism for adding hermeticity to that of the Hewlett-Packard Co. patent, making it practicable for 200-mm wafer systems.
With the Asyst Technologies Inc. patent, as illustrated in FIG. 1(b), the coupled portion consists of four structures, namely, a container ("box"), a container door ("box door"), a front chamber ("port"), and a front-chamber door ("port door"), and is characterized in that among the contacts between these four structures, the four structural intervals (a) container main body 3—container door 4, (b) front-chamber main body 5—front-chamber door 6, (c) container main body 3—front-chamber main body 5, and (d) container door 4—front-chamber door 6 are sealed in order to make them hermetically tight.
Thereafter, given that the sealing system was not perfect, some patents as improvements over the Asyst Inc. patent have been registered. However, the series of improvement patents themselves have given rise to detriment such as follows, complicating the mechanisms, that is, stepped-up manufacturing costs, weight increase, creation of new fine particle generation sources, difficulties with container washing, or similar detriment. Even by means of the improvements in these patents, not only has the gas shield-off not been at a practical level, but also the fine particle shield-off has been imperfect.
Later on, in about the year 2000 the wafer size had become 300-mm, a system separate from Asyst Inc.'s above-described system was proposed, and it became a world standard for 300-mm wafer conveyance systems. This standard system is called the Front-opening Interface Mechanical Standard (FIMS) system, and while being SEMI standards (chiefly SEMI Std. E57, E47.1, E62, and E63), has been patented (Patent Literature 3). FIMS employs a container-door opening that is horizontally directed and a horizontal coupling system.
This is in contradistinction to the vertical coupling with the Asyst system. Further, with the Asyst system, given that the coupling is vertical, the wafers are housed in cassettes inside the containers. The two doors having been combined after coupling are housed inside, and then are moved together with the cassettes into the front chambers. In contrast, with FIMS, the cassettes are omitted. The two doors having been horizontally combined are moved into the front chamber. Then, after the doors subsequently have been lowered in the vertical direction, the wafers within the container are directly taken out to the front chamber using a wafer-transfer robot within the front chamber.
Furthermore, in the FIMS patent, as differing from the Asyst patent, there is no concrete structural definition regarding the sealing structure for the contact portions of the individual structural elements. In actuality, in a practical FIMS system, a structure is rendered in which clearances of about 1 to 2 mm are deliberately provided between the individual structural elements. Specifically, clearances are provided between container—front chamber, and between front chamber—front-chamber doors.
One reason for this is because if a sealing structure that relies on physical contact is provided, mechanical friction is generated in the sealing areas, and that invites large-quantity fine particle generation. But given that the clearances are provided, a drawback that occurs is that hermeticity against gas molecules is lacking in principle.
It should be noted that also in the Asyst system for 200-mm wafers, based on two reasons that are: for reducing the problem of pressure fluctuations that arise within the local environment during the opening/closing of the container doors and front-chamber doors after coupling and the problem of fine particle occurrence caused by air currents stemming due to the pressure fluctuations; and for preventing the container door from becoming difficult to open under negative pressure due to a sealed container, a pressure-relief hole that passes through the exterior is established in the container. These factors result in a structure unable to actually have the shielding performance, in particular, for gas molecules.
What may be understood from the foregoing illustrative antecedent instances is that in sealed-type mechanisms for sealing the individual areas, while it is possible to construct a local cleaning production system with an effective internal/external separation capacity with respect to small molecules such as gases, the downside is that the mechanical friction and the like in the sealing portions produces the side effect of fine particles occurring in numerous amounts. Conversely, if the structure with the clearances is employed, the fine particle generation can be reduced while it is unable to secure the capacity to separate gas molecules internally/externally. This is a shortcoming that the SMIF system has as a self-contradiction. The consequent problem has been that the practical systems cannot avoid the structures with imperfect hermeticity.
Actually, with FIMS systems introduced as the worldwide standard in all semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing plants handling the latest 300-mm wafers, because they have the clearances, they lack the complete shielding performance not only for gas molecules, but also for particles. As a deleterious effect, although a perfect local cleaning production system originally does not need a clean room because of shielding performance, in all actual plants, the FIMS system still has been introduced within the clean rooms. That is, the current situation is that two kinds of cleaning, by a cleanroom and by local cleaning, have become necessary. This fact has increased facilities investment expenditures and requires high-level control, thus pushing up manufacturing costs significantly.
Thus, downsizing is being tried in the front-end process of semiconductor manufacturing by introducing local cleaning system.
However, this does not go beyond application to manufacturing systems up to now on extended lines, in which simultaneous productivity (production quantity per unit time) has been emphasized the most as a critical factor in order to minimize manufacturing costs. That is, as is typified by the above-described FIMS, diameter scale-up in the workpiece size (silicon wafer size) and increase in the manufacturing unit count (number of orders with respect to a single product) have been given priority, thus still pointing to giant-scaled manufacturing systems, megafab so to say.
FIG. 13 illustrates the effect of size on the semiconductor manufacturing system based on this megafab.
For a cutting-edge semiconductor plant (megafab) in which where the wafer size is 12 inches in the current status, an apparatus count is 300 machines, the number of work in process for wafers that stays in the system is 17,000, the number of masks to be used is 34, and a floor surface area is 20,000 square meters, and the facilities investment total comes to approximately three billion dollars. In this case, the monthly production capacity provides 140 million items per year expressed in terms of 1-cm chips. However, the wafer utilization is less than 1% and the resource usage efficiency is less than 0.1%. Here, as preconditions, assume that the time required by each process (cycle time) is 1 minute/wafer, the process count for semiconductor with eight metallic layers is 500 processes, and the design rule is 90 nm.
Meanwhile, there is the need for manufacturing semiconductor in very small quantities, for example, several pieces to several hundreds of pieces in a manufacturing unit for engineer samples or ubiquitous sensors.
Except this very large-scale manufacturing system, this ultra-small production can be carried out without having to sacrifice cost performance that much. However in a very large-scale manufacturing system, the flow-shop system extremely reduces the cost performance for manufacturing semiconductor in very small quantities in the manufacturing line. Therefore, other kinds of products need to be manufactured in that manufacturing line at the same time.
However, when a wide variety of products are input at the same time for mixed production in that manner, the productivity of the manufacturing line further decreases with increasing number of types of products. As a result, in this very large-scale manufacturing system, very small-quantity production and multiproduct production cannot be appropriately managed.
Conventionally, in a device manufacturing system that employs a flow-shop system or a job-shop system, various measures against drop in utilization in with each system have been proposed (Patent Literature 4 or Patent Literature 5).

National Institute of Advance Industrial Science and Technology


The invention provides motorist a lock-unlock wheel that rotates independently around its center hub, which remains mounted to the axle of a subject vehicle. The rim allows vehicles to be towed without vehicle axle rotation, while eliminating odometer reading due to towing. The invention comprises an inner hub spindle that is able to be unlocked from the wheel, allowing for independent rotation of the inner spindle. And, when unlocked via a bolting system, the invention's wheel section rotates while also eliminating effects of a vehicle drive and brake system while the vehicle is in tow.

The present invention is unlike regular one piece wheels or rims, in that the present invention's wheel can rotate independent of any subject vehicle's drive system or can rotate in conjunction with said vehicle's drive system when the center hub and wheel of the present invention are coupled/locked together via a bolting or locking method. And, when mounted to said vehicle, the present invention, allows the uncoupling of the wheel from the center hub/spindle section, permitting a subject vehicle to be moved without interference of the vehicle's braking and drive systems; and the towing or pushing of a vehicle without necessity to un-mount the present invention from said vehicle's axles.
The present invention, also unlike present one piece wheels or rim, incorporates a bearing and race system which allows the center hub/spindle and wheel of the present invention to freely rotate relative to one another.


A method and system for providing multi-organization resource management. According to one embodiment of the invention, data is imported from a set of one or more external applications, a purchase requisition is generated from resource data from the set of one or more external applications. Then, after the purchase requisition is approved and validated the purchase requisition is converted to a purchase order and exported to one or more external applications.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of enterprise resource planning. More specifically, the invention relates to the ability to access multiple external applications simultaneously.
2 Background of the Invention
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is an industry standard term to describe the multitude of accounting oriented applications that aid in the planning and support of business process data. For many businesses ERP applications include complex information systems that support and automate business processes such as human resources, manufacturing, distribution, project management, payroll, financials, etc. Building and maintaining the interrelationships between the applications making up a ERP system is a daunting task because each application may have its own set of attributes and business rules. In addition, these applications are developed by various software vendors (e.g. SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, etc) that may obtain and store the data from a variety of sources (e.g. flat files, relationship databases, etc.).
In an effort to relieve some of the complexity, enterprise applications have been created that provide access to many ERP applications from a single application. For example, buying organizations may use an enterprise application to enable their corporate community of users, approvers and related departments to acquire all of their operating resources via a single, common networked infrastructure. The enterprise application channels the users to products and services from preferred suppliers while simplifying the numerous processes (e.g., approval within the organization) of acquiring operating resources. That is, the enterprise application facilitates an easy to understand presentation of each process to the user, so complexity is minimized, while still allowing the enterprise to model sophisticated process scenarios.
FIG. 1 illustrates the connectivity of two ERPs with two enterprise applications. Here, enterprise application instance 110 interfaces with ERP 102 and enterprise application instance 120 interfaces with ERP 103. The ERP 102 includes ERP database 130 and ERP database 150. The ERP 103 includes ERP database 140 and ERP database 160.
An enterprise application, may model the world using a particular set of objects. Here, ERP object 170 uses the object model from ERP 102. ERP object 180 uses the object model from ERP 103. These ERP objects relate both to real-world objects, such as suppliers and catalog items, as well as to computery items such as folders used to display work in progress to users.
The enterprise application 110 and 120 communicates with their respective ERP in their terms. This means not only importing and exporting the particular kinds of data that a given ERP uses using the object model of the ERP, but also communicating using the idiosyncratic codes of each specific ERP application. Therefore, enterprise application 110 needs to respect the semantics of each and every ERP object model. For instance, SAP may work with a particular accounting model, meaning the enterprise application communicates with it using the business rules and user Ids that the SAP understands, such as, using the SAP's user, not the enterprise application user ID.
However, a problem occurs when wanting to acquire business data not contained in a single ERP application, but spread across several ERPs of different ERP types (e.g. one SAP ERP and one Oracle ERP). Typically this occurs when a business with an existing ERP mergers with or acquires another business which has its own ERP.
For example, two businesses may have merged, each with pre-existing ERP systems of different types. (e.g. ERP 102 may use a SAP system while ERP 103 may use a PeopleSoft system). Upon merging both businesses may decide to continue to operate both ERP systems separately because one business is based in the United States and the other in France. However, at times, a user may want to access both instances simultaneously. For example, for reporting purpose. When multiple ERP instances are represented in two distinct instances a user may not immediately view both instances simultaneously in an efficient manner. To view the ERP instances simultaneously the enterprise application would somehow union the instances together or transfer the data from both instances into a data warehouse. Both these methods are inefficient and place additional overhead to the enterprise application.
Another problem with having multiple ERP systems is that different resource data may be required to work with the differing ERP instances. For example, the ERP instance for the United States may contain different resource data attributes and business rules than the ERP instance for France. Most enterprise applications map the differences between the two ERPs at runtime to keep track of which resource data is valid for which systems. However, in many cases it is not possible to map all external semantics into a single representation. Mapping dissimilar representations will result in errors to the business process.
Another possible problem when accessing multiple ERPs is that the enterprise application will have to deal with data redundancy (e.g. the possibility that the same logical entity (for instance the same employee) is represented more than once, slightly differently and with potentially conflicting data, in different systems).

Method and system for providing multi-organization resource management


A revolving photography studio is disclosed. The revolving photography studio includes a stationary circular track surrounding a product setup location and an upright wall coupled to a frame defining a studio backdrop, being of a curved configuration, at least partially surrounding the product setup location, and following the stationary circular track for undergoing revolvable movement along the track using wheels. The wall comprises a defined opening for entrance into the product setup location. The revolving photography studio also includes a linear horizontal crossbar across a top of the opening and coupled to the frame. The revolving photography studio additionally comprises a plate coupled to the linear horizontal crossbar. The plate is configured to receive a camera mount.

Advertising of a consumer product, such as an automobile, typically involves many images of the consumer product from many angles, so that the customer can rely on the images to make a purchase. Motorized turntables have been used to rotate the automobile to capture images, but these motorized turntables have a number of drawbacks.


A firefighting system is delivered from a helicopter and capable of dispersing foam, water, or a chemical flame retardant at a given distance upon a conflagration. The system has a plurality of wheels secured to an underside surface which permits the system to be easily moved from beneath a helicopter to be recharged. The system is configured to operate in conjunction in low light or low visibility conditions.

Forest fires have plagued mankind from the beginning of time. We now know that some destruction of forest areas is necessary for the proper development and stability of plant and animal species, thus man has let some fires take their natural course. However, when such forest fires are located near populated areas where rebuilding costs would be great and lives may possibly be lost, the decision to fight the fire is an easy one. Many of these fires are fought from the air in which planes or helicopters carry water from a body of water such as a lake or pond and drop it on the fire(s).
While such a practice undoubtedly assists in the extinguishing of the fire, it is far from perfect. Perhaps the biggest shortcoming is the amount of travel time necessary from the water pickup point to the fire itself. Up to an hour of travel time back and forth can be dedicated to a water drop that lasts only seconds. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which firefighting water can be directed from an airborne platform in a continuous manner. The development of the helicopter based firefighting system 10 fulfills this need.

Helicopter-mounted fire suppression delivery system


A sigma delta (SD) pulse-width modulation (PWM) loop includes a loop filter implementing a linear transfer function to generate a loop filter signal, wherein the loop filter is configured to receive an input signal and a first feedback signal and generate the loop filter signal based on the input signal, the first feedback signal, and the linear transfer function; and a hysteresis comparator coupled to an output of the loop filter, the hysteresis comparator configured to receive the loop filter signal and generate a sigma delta PWM signal based on the loop filter signal, wherein the first feedback signal is derived from the sigma delta PWM signal.

The many applications for pulse-width modulation (PWM) include voltage regulation, power-level control, and motor control, just to name a few. Each PWM period (i.e., transmission cycle) includes a high time for the first portion of the PWM period followed by a low time for a second portion of the PWM period, or vice versa. The duration of the first and second portions are regulated by a pulse-width modulator, which is typically a PWM circuit or processor. In both states, the power consumption is low because in one state there is no current through the driver and in the other state there is a low switching resistance at the driver.
PWM is widely used to transmit sensor data due to its simplicity. However, it has a severe disadvantage which is the long time that is needed to transmit a single value. This latency issue increases exponentially with the required resolution of the data transmission. The reception of the data is significantly delayed with respect to the sampling time. This delay sets a restriction to the achievable speed of a control loop that utilizes the sensor data.
PWM signals approximate continuous analog signals by fast sequences of rectangular signals. A proper approximation of the signal requires a sufficient oversampling ration. The resulting spectrum of the approximated signal contains: (1) the carrier frequency and its harmonics, and (2) quantization noise due to the limited number of clocks belonging to a PWM cycle. The spectrum of the band limited approximated signal is of course also included. There should be a sufficient gap between the PWM carrier and the end of the signal band in order to allow a reconstruction of the signal with a low pass filter.
For example, FIG. 1A includes an input signal (top) and a digital PWM output signal (bottom). The duty cycle of the digital PWM output signal changes based on the value of the input signal with constant switching frequency. In particular, the duty cycle is highest at the zero-crossing of a sinusoidal input signal and lowest at the two extrema of the sinusoidal input signal.
FIG. 1B shows a signal spectrum of the digital PWM output signal shown in FIG. 1A. As can be seen by the signal spectrum, PWM causes relatively high level of harmonics of the carrier frequency of the PWM signal with the first harmonic being substantially equal or greater than the peak of the carrier frequency. The harmonics of the switching frequency repeat with a decreasing spectral density. These harmonics may be referred to as distortion harmonics. It is desirable to lower the spectral density of the distortion harmonics.
A know alternative to PWM is a sigma delta modulated signal which uses a loop filter to distributes the quantization noise over the complete spectrum according to a noise transfer function which is designed to shift quantization noise to high frequency where it can be easily be attenuated by filters. Its spectrum is significantly improved compared to the one of a PWM with respect to noise spectral density in the frequency range around the PWM switching frequency and maxima of higher frequency spectral components which are relevant for electromagnetic emissions. Unfortunately, it comes at a cost of a far higher number of transitions wherein the transition in an output stage cause a significant increase of the power consumption. Furthermore, the rising edges and falling edges can have different steepness since they are generated by pull up or pull down devices which do not match very accurately. This causes in increase inaccuracy of the approximated signal which is getting worse with an increasing number of edges.
Therefore, embodiments provided herein provide a pulse-width modulator and a PWM method that has a reduced spectral density of the distortion harmonics.

Pulse width modulation generated by a sigma delta loop


An additional storage processing part additionally stores, in a test information table, data relating to a test to be performed, each time any one of a plurality of tests is performed. An updating part updates the corresponding record in a skill level table each time the test is performed, and then an additional storage by the additional storage processing part is executed. A man-hour computing part executes the process of estimating a test man-hour relating to an evaluator and a test designated in accordance with the contents of a display in a display part. Thus, a test man-hour estimating apparatus can accurately estimate the man-hour of the test the evaluator performs repeatedly, based to the data stored in the test information table and the skill level table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test man-hour estimating apparatus of estimating the man-hour of the same type of a test that an evaluator performs repeatedly to an object to be tested, and to a recording medium recording a computer-readable program. In particular, the invention relates to an improvement in the technique of estimating the man-hour.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, there has been known the technique of evaluating a test process for testing software based on a reliability growth model
It is known from experience that, when the same type of a test is performed repeatedly, the test man-hour (test period) can be reduced to a certain level. It is also known that the level of reduction differs for different evaluators (test engineers).
However, the conventional test process fails to reflect the levels of reduction of the individual evaluators, making it impossible to estimate accurately the test man-hour of software.

Apparatus and computer-readable program for estimating man-hours for software tests


A security device for securing a first object having an aperture to a second object by a cable. The device comprises a self contained locking unit for securing the device to the first object and a cable adapter having a top, a bottom and a cable housing. The cable housing receives a connector attached to an end of the cable after the cable is attached to the second object. The cable adapter receives the locking unit which will extend out of both the top and bottom of the cable adapter. The locking unit prevents the connector of the cable from being removed from the cable adapter when the locking unit is received by the cable adapter. The connector can be removed from the cable adapter when the locking unit is not being received by the cable adapter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a locking mechanism and a removable cable adapter and more specifically relates to a locking mechanism and a removable cable adapter for use in securing business equipment such as printers, scanners and portable computers and other portable objects in a location.
2. Description of the Related Art
Manufacturers of portable computers, such as lap top computers, and other portable objects, such as printers, scanners, copiers and modems, are providing a standardized and dedicated locking aperture within the body of the portable computer or other equipment. The locking aperture is so located that the equipment may still be operated when secured in a location by a locking apparatus. Where such a locking aperture is not provided in the equipment, a locking aperture structure that can be permanently connected to such equipment is available on the market.
Many different locking apparatuses have been developed to secure the equipment at a location using a locking aperture. Product have been developed for locking down equipment, using a locking aperture on or attached to the equipment, where a cable is permanently attached to the locking apparatus. Examples of such securing devices can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,938,040, 5,327,752, 5,493,878 and 5502,989. A locking apparatus having a permanently attached cable may experience problems where it is desired to have the cable used not only for locking down the object having the locking aperture but also to lock down other equipment such as printers by the same cable.


Persistent names for logical volumes in a computer system are used to enable symbolic links between the persistent names and non-persistent device names that identify the logical volumes to the lower layers of the operating system during a single boot session. A persistent unique mount name for each logical volume is associated with a unique volume identifier for the logical volume in a persistent mount manager data structure. Optionally a persistent drive letter can be assigned to the volume. Higher layers of the operating system and user applications address a volume through the persistent mount name as well as any assigned drive letter. When the system is rebooted, the data structure entries identified by the unique volume identifiers of the arriving logical volumes are used to reconstruct the symbolic links so that references to the persistent mount name, and optional drive letter, will resolve to the correct non-persistent device name, thus guaranteeing consistency in addressing the logical volumes across boot sessions. When the system undergoes physical reconfiguration, an existing persistent mount name is associated with a different non-persistent device name if the unique volume identifier is present in the data structure. In this fashion, logical volumes can be removed and restored in the computer without the knowledge of higher layers of the operating system and user applications. Optionally, an in-memory data structure is created from the persistent data structure to increase the speed of the identification process.

This invention relates generally to computer storage device configuration, and more particularly to providing persistent names to logical volumes mounted in a computer system.
Most operating systems associate a logical unit of mass storage with a device name, such as a physical hierarchical name ( device harddisk0 partition1 ), and a user-friendly name, such as a drive letter, so that the data on the storage device can be easily accessible by the higher layers of the operating system and user applications. The higher layers of the operating system and user applications assume that the user-friendly names are persistent across boot sessions. In actuality, the names are persistent only as long as the physical configuration of the computer does not change. Persistence cannot be guaranteed because such operating systems assign the user-friendly names in the order in which the storage devices are detected when booting. When the physical locations of the storage devices change, these operating systems will assign the user-friendly names to different devices. Therefore, the consistency of name assignments across multiple boot sessions is not preserved under all circumstances, and the higher operating system layers and user applications will be unable to access the data on the devices without modification.
Furthermore, most operation systems support a fixed number of user-friendly names so the number of logical units addressable through user-friendly names is limited.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an operating system that provides persistent user-friendly names despite physical configuration changes and extends the number of user-friendly names.
The above-mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed by the present invention, which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.
Unique volume identifiers for logical volumes are used to associate logical volumes created from compute system storage devices with persistent xe2x80x9credirectedxe2x80x9d user-friendly mount names and optional drive letters which are used by higher layers of the operating system and user applications. Information regarding the redirected names is stored a persistent data structure based on the unique volume identifier. There is an entry in the data structure containing the mount name and the unique volume identifier for a logical volume so that the mount name persists across boot sessions. If the logical volume is assigned a drive letter, there is a similar entry for the drive letter that also contains the unique volume identifier. Because the operating system addresses a logical volume through a non-persistent device name, symbolic links are created between the device name and the mount name, and any optional drive letter, when the logical volume is first identified during a boot session so that the higher layers of the operating system and user applications can access the logical volume through the persistent mount name and/or drive letter.
When the physical configuration of the computer changes, the device name changes but the unique volume identifier does not. The unique volume identifier is used to locate the appropriate mount name and/or drive letter in its data structure and a new symbolic link is created with the new device name so that the symbolic link resolves the mount name and/or drive letter to the correct logical volume under all circumstances.
Because the logical volume is identified through its unique volume identifier and is not reliant on the devices being located in any particular order in the system, or being discovered in any particular order during the boot process, or being present only during the boot process, changes in the physical configuration of the computer between boots, or during a boot session, have no effect on the higher layers of the operating system and user applications which rely on the redirected name. Thus, the level of indirection provided by the invention guarantees that the higher layers of the operating system and user applications will be able to access data on a logical volume for the life of the logical volume without modifications. Furthermore, because the logical volume is always accessible through its mount name, the invention extends the finite set of drive letters commonly available in operating systems.
In one aspect of the invention, a data structure is described that contains the unique volume identifiers and the persistent redirected names. In another aspect of the invention, a mount manager is described that creates and maintains the data structure.
The present application describes computer systems, methods, and computer-readable media of varying scope. The mount manager is variously described as causing the processor of a computer to perform certain actions, as a series of steps executed from a computer-readable medium, and in terms of its interaction with objects and other system components in an object-based operating system. However, the invention is equally applicable in environments which provide for associating the unique volume identifiers, the persistent names, and the logical volume without requiring a separate mount manager or the particular data structures described in the present application. In addition to the aspects and advantages of the present invention described in this summary, further aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by reading the detailed description that follows.


An installation for fighting fire, having a hydraulic accumulator which has at least one pressure container with a space for extinguishing liquid and a space for propellant gas, a rising tube arranged in the pressure container and provided with a side opening and, at the lower part of the pressure container, a feed opening for feeding extinguishing liquid into the rising tube and further to at least one nozzle. In order to obtain an extremely small drop size of the extinguishing liquid at the final stage of the emptying of the pressure container and in order to manage with a very small amount of extinguishing liquid, the rising tube has a throttle in an area below the uppermost side opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an installation for fighting fire, including a hydraulic accumulator which includes at least one pressure container with a space for extinguishing liquid and a space for propellant gas, a rising tube, in the pressure container, provided with a side opening and, at the lower part of the pressure container, with a feed opening for feeding extinguishing liquid into the rising tube and further to at least one nozzle.
2. The Prior Art
Such installations are known from, for example, WO 94/08659. The principal of operation is that only liquid in a mist-like, penetrating form is initially sprayed from the nozzle, after which gas is mixed into the liquid through said the openings. A reduction of the pressure in the pressure container generally produces a spray with a larger drop size out of the nozzle. Owing to the feeding of gas, the drop size of the extinguishing medium discharged from the nozzle can be reduced. These known installations largely function very well; however, in some applications, it would be desirable to be able to reduce the size of the drops discharged from the nozzle even more, after the initial spraying with a great penetration, than what has been possible with the known hydraulic accumulators and nozzles. The mixing of a large amount of gas into a small amount of liquid has been relatively difficult to achieve in practice. An enlarging of the side openings in the rising tube has not produced the desired result, but by reducing the diameter of the rising tube, it has been possible to improve the intermixing of gas somewhat. However, a reduction of the diameter of the rising tube increases the pressure losses as the flow resistance of the liquid in the rising tube increases, and sufficient liquid cannot be obtained from the pressure container upon emptying the container. By being able to produce very small droplets, the amount of extinguishing liquid that is used could be minimized and, simultaneously, if water was used as the extinguishing liquid, the water damages would be minimal. This has not always been possible to achieve to such a degree as one would have wished.


Trenchless pipe replacement apparatus equipped with articulated lead sections that flex and accommodate an irregular path of an old pipe line. The articulated lead sections are coupled together by a flexible joint that allows the lead section assembly to flex and follow the path of the old pipe line that may be irregular due to misaligned pipe sections, dropped joints and other irregularities.

Cities of all sizes in the United States employ sewer and other liquid carrying systems for transporting liquid wastes to treatment plants for the disposal thereof. The infrastructure for carrying liquid wastes includes a vast network of underground pipes. The underground pipes can be constructed of many types of material, including clay, metal, cement, plastic, etc. Irrespective of the type of material from which the pipe network is constructed, the pipes deteriorate over time and thus need replacement. Certain pipes can last over 100 years, while other types of pipes may last only 25 years or so.
One technique for replacing old and deteriorated underground pipes includes excavating an open trench to expose the pipe line, and then replacing the old pipes with new pipes. While this technique has been employed for years, it is time consuming, labor intensive and frequently disrupts traffic, if a street or alley requires excavation in order to expose the underlying pipes. Moreover, the street or alley cannot often be immediately repaired until the newly filled trench has settled or otherwise is in condition for the pouring of concrete or laying of asphalt over the trenched area.
Misaligned joints of old underground pipes, cracked pipe sections, and either a complete or partial collapse of the pipe line, are all conditions that frequently exist in municipal wastewater systems. Utility owners are increasingly searching for alternatives to traditional open-cut replacement methods for such failing infrastructure.
Existing pipe lines often have horizontal and/or vertical bends or curves, resulting from dropped joints and/or dramatic elevation changes that can disrupt pipe replacement methods. When a video camera is able to penetrate the existing pipe line to determine that the path is irregular and no longer linear, the best option has been to dig a work pit at the grade or line change location. When the camera is not able to penetrate the old pipe line because of its highly irregular path, the options have been limited to making point repairs prior to using existing trenchless methods, or to revert to traditional open cut methods.
As a significant improvement to the traditional pipe replacement techniques, improved trenchless pipe replacement techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,482,404; 5,816,745 and 6,588,983, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. This methodology uses the technique of pushing new replacement pipes 24 behind a cone expander 18, through the old pipe line 10 that is being replaced. The trenchless pipe replacing apparatus is shown in FIG. 1, being pushed through an old pipe line 10 toward a manhole 12. The old pipe line 10 is shown curved and irregular, as is the case with many old pipe lines. Pipe replacement is accomplished without using percussion or vibration, and there are no rotating parts. In order to guide the new pipe 24 through the old pipe 10, a multi-component lead train is employed. The lead train includes a lead section 14 that "noses" its way through the path of the old deteriorated pipe 10. A cracker lead 16 functions as a guide behind the lead section 14. There may be a cracker extension (not shown) that effectively extends the length of the cracker lead 16. The cracker lead 16 begins and straightens the path of the old underground pipe 10. Coupled behind the cracker lead 16 is a cracker/cone 18. The leading or frontal portion of this section 18 is fitted with fins 20 placed radially and in a staggered manner. The rear half of the cracker/cone 18 is a concentric cone that fractures the old pipe 10 and expands it radially outwardly into the surrounding dirt. A trailing sleeve 22 is attached to the back of the cracker/cone 18 and makes the two components 18 and 22 rigid with each another as a unit. This rigidity precludes the assembly from reacting to and following every "wiggle" in the old pipe line 10. As shown in FIG. 1 the rigid lead train may exit the irregular path of the old pipe 10 and form a burrow outside the old pipe 10. Should this occur, the pipe replacement operation must be halted due to failure to replace the old pipe.
The rear of the trailing sleeve 22 is fitted with a specific adapter to interface with the new pipe 24 being pushed into the old pipe 10. There can be a lubricant port on the trailing end of the trailing sleeve 22. While not shown, a jacking frame, including a heavy duty hydraulic jack, is employed to exert a force on the back of the new pipe 24, and force it, and the lead train, into the old pipe 10. Once a section of the new pipe 24 has been fully inserted into and in replacement of the old pipe 10, the plunger or cylinder of the jack is retracted and another new pipe section is fitted behind the previously inserted new pipe 24, and the jack pushes the second new pipe section forward, thus pushing the previous pipe and the lead train to advance the apparatus through the path of the old pipe 10. This continues until the front-most new pipe 24 emerges through the old pipe 10 in a downstream manhole 12, whereupon the old pipe line 10 has been completely replaced with new pipe sections.
During the time when the jack is pushing the lead train forward, the fins 20 attached around the cracker/cone 18 rip and break the old pipe 10 as well as any repair clamps or saddles. These fins 20 have been found to point load and break concrete encasement where the concrete is not substantial or is not reinforced. For most pipe replacement conditions, the appropriate cone expander 18 will be concentric, however when certain existing conditions dictate, an eccentric cone expander (not shown) can be used. An eccentric cone expander is used whenever it is expected that the radial expansion of the cone as it moves forward will not expand downward uniformly in all radial directions, i.e. due to an existing rock floor at the bottom of the trench.
In some cases a front jack will be used instead of the trailing sleeve 22. In this case, both a front and rear jack will be employed. It should be noted that with the front jack (a single acting hydraulic cylinder), the frontal components of the lead train can be advanced without advancing the new pipe column. Because of the superior column loading capability of rigid pipe products that are currently available, the front jack is used only when substantially upsizing of the new pipe is desired, as compared to the old pipe, or when the push is long, or the existing ground condition is a hard consolidated material. Whenever the front jack is used there is a pipe adapter which provides a mating surface that allows the front jack to interface with the new pipe column. The lubricant port on the trailing end of the trailing sleeve allows the introduction of lubricant. The lubricant can be of any type, but preferably bentonite, a polymer, or a mixture of both. By introducing a lubricant around the annular space of the new pipe column, the force necessary to advance the column is maintained at a minimum.
The foregoing technique functions very well for many old pipe lines, even pipe lines with gentle or gradual curves. In this event, the gently curbed pipe line may even be straightened due to the rigidity of the coupling between the components of the lead train.
When the lead train components of the pipe train of FIG. 1 are joined together, a rigid assembly is formed. This rigid train of components can be about nine to twelve feet long, and because of its length and rigidity, it cannot navigate the "wiggles" that may exist in many old pipe lines. Stated another way, this rigid assembly will follow the general path of the old pipe line, however it will not follow every misaligned joint. The problem is exacerbated when the old pipe line is situated in soft soil or in sandy conditions. In old pipe lines where misalignment of pipe sections exists, or where the old pipe line is characterized by a curved or meandering path, the path must first be straightened and any misalignment corrected in order to accommodate the new rigid pipe that replaces the old pipe line.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that a need exists for a new trenchless technique, and apparatus, for replacing old pipe lines characterized by irregular paths. Another need exists for a lead train that can follow an irregular path of an old pipe line and replace the same with new pipes, without correcting the irregular path. Yet another need exists for a lead train that is not rigid, but with components that can move with respect to each other so that it can follow an irregular path.

Articulated lead for trenchless pipe replacement


The holding of a burner collar as well as of a heat shield in the end wall of an annular combustion chamber is described. An annularly constructed holding part is provided which, in segments, has flanks between which the burner collar is held by lugs arranged thereon. The holding part is placed on a ring attachment of the heat shield and, together with the heat shield, is screwed to the end wall.

The invention relates to a head part of an annular gas turbine combustion chamber, in whose end wall burner collars, which each accommodate a burner, are arranged in an annular fashion. The burners are each radially displaceably positioned through the use of a holding part which is fastened on the end wall together with a heat shield which is inserted into the passage opening for the burner collar and covers the end wall back side 2a toward the combustion chamber. In this case, the annularly constructed holding part, at least in segments, has flanks between which the burner collar is held using lugs arranged thereon. The holding part is placed on a ring attachment of the heat shield situated on the end wall front side.
With respect to the known state of the art, reference is first made to German Patent document DE 31 13 382 C2 (having a corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,945). In the case of the annular combustion chamber known from this document, the heat shield has a so-called attachment ring of a U-shaped cross-section which is held in the passage opening for the burner collar. However, in order to be able to mount this heat shield attachment ring at all, it must be constructed in two parts and, after the mounting has taken place, the two parts are welded together from the two sides of the end wall. In this known patent document, an edged connection is suggested as an alternative. However, both process steps, that is, the welding and the edging, require relatively high expenditures.
In contrast, the arrangement of burner collars illustrated in British Patent document GB-A-2 257 502 is easier to mount, particularly while avoiding weld seams. According to that document, each burner collar is held by way of lugs arranged thereon between flanks, provided in segments, of an annularly constructed holding part. In this case, the final fastening takes place using an elastic ring to be inserted.
Under hard usage conditions, a reliable holding by way of the elastic ring cannot always be ensured.
There is therefore needed a head part of an annular combustion chamber of a gas turbine which is functionally more reliable.
The present invention meets this need by providing a burner collar which is held by way of its lugs in a bayonet-catch-type manner between the flanks of the holding part which, together with the heat shield, is screwed to the end wall. Advantageous embodiments and further developments are described herein.
The invention will be explained in detail by means of a preferred embodiment.

Head part of an annular combustion chamber of a gas turbine having a holding part to secure a burner collar in a bayonet-catch type manner


A method of making a power transmission belt/belt sleeve having a body with a continuous length extending around an axis, an inside, an outside spaced radially from the inside, and at least one of a) a plurality of ribs extending lengthwise and b) a plurality of cog teeth spaced at lengthwise intervals, on one of the inside and outside of the belt/belt sleeve. The method includes the steps of: forming a first belt/belt sleeve component with a compression rubber layer; applying a radial force on the first belt/belt sleeve component so as to urge the first belt/belt sleeve component against a mold surface and thereby forming the at least one of the plurality of ribs and plurality of cog teeth in the first belt/belt sleeve component; forming a second belt/belt sleeve component having at least a part of a cushion rubber layer and a load carrying member; and after forming the at least one of the plurality of ribs and plurality of cog teeth on the first belt/belt sleeve component, joining the first and second belt/belt sleeve components to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to power transmission belts/belt sleeves and, more particularly, to a belt/belt sleeve having at least one of a) ribs and b) a plurality of cog teeth thereon. The invention is further directed to a method of making such a power transmission belt/belt sleeve.
2. Background Art
It is known to make power transmission belts by laminating a cushion rubber layer, with at least one embedded, load carrying tension member extending lengthwise of the belt, to a compression rubber layer having longitudinally extending ribs with embedded, laterally extending, short, reinforcing fibers. Commonly, to make such a transmission belt, a continuous sleeve, defined by laminating the cushion rubber layer with the embedded load carrying member to the compression rubber layer, is placed in a vulcanizing assembly. The sleeve surface, in which the ribs are to be formed, is in a flat state during the vulcanization process. At the completion of the vulcanization process, the compression rubber layer is ground to form the ribs. The sleeve is then cut to produce individual belts of a desired width.
With this process, the removed material during the grinding process represents waste, which must be accumulated and appropriately disposed of. In response to this problem, a number of different processes have been developed for forming ribs without the requirement of grinding.
In JP-UM-B-27946/1982 Publication, a process is disclosed wherein an unvulcanized belt sleeve, having the aforementioned joined, compression rubber layer and cushion rubber layer with at least one load carrying member embedded therein, is inserted into a cylindrical metal die assembly. The compression layer resides against an outer, radially inwardly facing mold surface having formed rib grooves thereon. The ribs are formed in the belt sleeve by pressing the compression rubber layer radially outwardly against the ribbed mold surface.
Another process for making belts is disclosed in each of JP-A-40087/1978 and JP-A-25948/1983 Publications. In each of these publications, an unvulcanized belt sleeve is disclosed having an unformed compression rubber layer laminated outside of a cushion rubber layer in which at least one load carrying member is embedded. The unvulcanized belt sleeve is fit around an inner die element which is expandable in a radial direction. The inner die element, with the unvulcanized belt sleeve fit thereto, is placed in an outer die element with a radially inwardly facing surface in which rib grooves are formed. By expanding the diameter of the inner die element, ribs are formed by urging the compression rubber layer radially outwardly into conforming relationship with the grooved, outer die element surface.
In JP-A-86236/1998 Publication, a process is disclosed wherein exposed portions of the ribs, formed as described in the publications in the prior paragraph, are removed by grinding, thereby exposing short fibers embedded in the compression layer.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 2708717, a process is disclosed wherein endless ribs are formed in the compression rubber layer by extruding the same in a lengthwise direction. The compression rubber layer, with the preformed ribs, is laminated to the cushion rubber layer in which a load carrying cord is embedded. The resulting, unvulcanized belt sleeve is thereafter placed into a die and vulcanized.
In those systems, wherein ribs are formed by forcing an unvulcanized belt sleeve radially against a die surface with rib grooves, as in JP-A-5340087, during this process the cushion rubber layer is likewise deformed in the radial direction. However, because the load carrying member(s) is embedded in the cushion rubber layer, deformation of the load carrying member(s) likewise occurs. A disturbance in the load carrying member(s), such as an undulation in the radial direction, a disturbance of pitch, etc. might occur.
The process disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2708717 also inherently has some potential drawbacks. Because the ribs are formed through an extrusion process in a lengthwise direction, the rubber in the compression layer may not fill the mold with a uniform density to consistently produce a precise rib shape with a homogeneous composition. That is, the flow of the rubber in the compression layer may not be uniform, particularly in the direction transversely to the length of the belt sleeve/ribs.

Method of making a power transmission belt/belt sleeve and belt/belt sleeve made according to the method


A vehicle, including a motor having a rotor, a resolver that detects a rotation angle of the rotor and a control device, and a control method for the vehicle are provided. The control device executes rectangular-wave control over the motor using the rotation angle of the rotor, detected by the resolver, executes zero learning for learning a deviation between an origin of an actual rotation angle of the rotor and an origin of the detected rotation angle of the rotor, corrects the detected rotation angle of the rotor on the basis of a result of the zero learning, and, when the zero learning has not been completed yet, executes avoidance control for avoiding a rapid variation in output of the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle including a control device that executes rectangular-wave control (rectangular-wave voltage control) over a motor using an output of a resolver, and a control method for the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-283751 (JP 2008-283751 A) describes a technique for, in a system that drives a motor in a rectangular-wave control mode, preventing disturbing torque fluctuations by computing a motor command current vector and a motor detected current vector for torque control on the basis of a rotor rotation position detected by a rotor rotation position sensor and then correcting the phase of a rectangular-wave voltage such that a deviation between an estimated torque obtained from the motor command current vector and an estimated torque obtained from the motor detected current vector becomes zero.
Incidentally, a sensor called resolver is generally used for the sensor that detects a rotor rotation position, and a detected value of the resolver may include a so-called zero offset error. Therefore, it is desirable that control for calculating the zero offset error (hereinafter, also referred to as "zero learning") be executed and then the detected value of the resolver be corrected on the basis of the result. However, if zero learning has not been completed, there is a concern that an error arises in estimated torque due to the influence of the zero offset error and, as a result, the output torque of the motor rapidly varies.

Vehicle including motor control device, and control method for vehicle


A gap seal for convergent/divergent flap hinge ends to spaced disc and wall surfaces in a 2-D nozzle of a gas turbine engine is provided. The seal employs at least two cups resiliently mounted to the hinge ends, which cups independently translate axially and resiliently to contact the spaced surfaces at different or varying gaps to seal same. The translating cup seals of the invention thus maintain a constant seal in the gaps between the hinge ends and such surfaces at varying C/D hinge positions and varying operating conditions in the 2-D nozzle. That is, the cups independently maintain their seals across gaps as they expand or contract due to thermal changes as well as across gaps of different sizes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sealing between hinge ends and wall surfaces particularly sealing across gaps of different or varying widths.
2. The Prior Art
In 2-D nozzles of a gas turbine engine having hinged convergent and divergent flaps, there has been a problem providing a seal between the convergent/divergent (C/D) hinge ends and the spaced disc and/or wall surfaces at each such end. Such seal has been made difficult particularly where the gap between each hinge and sidewall is uneven, stepped and the like with the resulting problem of how to maintain a seal between moving hinge ends and stationary wall across varying gaps therebetween.
Prior art references in this area include U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,329 to Madden (1987) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,917 to Sirocky et al. (1991) but none appear to address the above varying gap sealing problem.
Accordingly, there is a need and market for a multi-level gap seal that overcomes the above prior art problem.
There has now been discovered a hinge end seal for bridging varying gaps between each hinge end and a spaced wall, wherein such seal is maintained though the hinge ends pivot relative to such wall.

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


A system with a self-powered sending unit communicating with a receiving unit. The sending unit interacts with a magnet attached to a rotating or moving member. The sending unit includes an inductor that intercepts the magnetic field from the magnet. The magnetic interaction with the sending unit generates power that is stored for later use by a transmitter. The magnetic interaction also provides a trigger for the transmitter that causes the transmitter to send a signal using the stored energy. In one embodiment, the signal includes a identification code that uniquely identifies the sending unit. A receiving unit includes a receiver responsive to the transmitted signal and, in one embodiment, a display of the measured parameter that is projected by a heads-up display unit.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a wireless monitoring system with a self-powered transmitter. More particularly, this invention pertains to a self-powered pulse transmitter monitoring a parameter and wirelessly transmitting information relating to that variable to a receiver, where the information is converted to information displayed to the operator, such as through a heads-up display for a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of automobiles, it is well known that a driver must not only pay attention to the driving environment, but also upon the operating conditions of the vehicle itself. With respect to the driving environment, the driver must be aware at all times of the condition and direction of the roadway on which the driver is traveling, including weather conditions, traffic, and physical condition of the surface. With respect to operating conditions of the vehicle, it is important to monitor the speed of the vehicle and various vehicle parameters, such as the fuel level, oil pressure, and engine temperature.
However, there are certain external conditions in which it is difficult and dangerous to maintain eye contact with the driving environment and still monitor the operating conditions of the vehicle. Accordingly, devices are known for accomplishing both by projecting various vehicle parameters onto the windshield of the vehicle.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,273, issued to Griffiths on Jun. 3, 1975, and titled "Speedometer optical projection system," discloses a system for projecting a speedometer or other instrument reading as a virtual image into the field of view of the vehicle operator. Griffiths discloses an optical projection system that corrects for aberrations from using the vehicle windshield as a projection screen for displaying the vehicle parameters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,976 issued to Lu on Jan. 29, 1991, titled "Head-up display with magnetic field speed detecting means," discloses a heads-up display system for a vehicle. Lu also discloses an electromagnetic inducer disposed on a tire for calculating the speed of the vehicle regardless of the tire size.

Wireless monitoring system with a self-powered transmitter


This invention provides a system and method for finding patterns in images that incorporates neural net classifiers. A pattern finding tool is coupled with a classifier that can be run before or after the tool to have labeled pattern results with sub-pixel accuracy. In the case of a pattern finding tool that can detect multiple templates, its performance is improved when a neural net classifier informs the pattern finding tool to work only on a subset of the originally trained templates. Similarly, in the case of a pattern finding tool that initially detects a pattern, a neural network classifier can then determine whether it has found the correct pattern. The neural network can also reconstruct/clean-up an imaged shape, and/or to eliminate pixels less relevant to the shape of interest, therefore reducing the search time, as well significantly increasing the chance of lock on the correct shapes.

Machine vision systems, also termed "vision systems" herein, are used to perform a variety of tasks in a manufacturing environment. In general, a vision system consists of one or more cameras with an image sensor (or "imager") that acquires grayscale or color images of a scene that contains an object under manufacture. Images of the object can be analyzed to provide data/information to users and associated manufacturing processes. The data produced by the image is typically analyzed and processed by the vision system in one or more vision system processors that can be purpose-built, or part of one or more software application(s) instantiated within a general purpose computer (e.g. a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone).
Common vision system tasks include alignment and inspection. In an alignment task, vision system tools, such as the well-known PatMax® system commercially available from Cognex Corporation of Natick, Mass., compares features in an image of a scene to a trained (using an actual or synthetic model) pattern, and determines the presence/absence and pose of the pattern in the imaged scene. This information can be used in subsequent inspection (or other) operations to search for defects and/or perform other operations, such as part rejection.
It is desirable to enhance the performance of traditional pattern-finding tools, which can include a predetermined list of searchable patterns (e.g. circles, squares, image of a screw, etc.). Often, such tools may fail to properly discriminate between certain trained patterns that have subtle differences (e.g. a circle vs a circle with a small notch)

System and method for finding and classifying patterns in an image with a vision system


A wiring substrate includes a silicon substrate, a through hole formed to penetrate the silicon substrate in a thickness direction, an insulating layer formed on both surfaces and side surfaces of the silicon substrate and an inner surface of the through hole, a penetration electrode formed in the through hole, a wiring layer formed on at least one surface of the silicon substrate and connected to the penetration electrode, and a metal wire terminal connected to the wiring layer and formed to extend from one surface of the silicon substrate to a side surface thereof. The metal wire terminal on the side surface of the electronic device is connected to the mounting substrate such that a substrate direction of the electronic device in which an electronic component is mounted on the wiring substrate intersects orthogonally with a substrate direction of the mounting substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wiring substrate, an electronic device, and an electronic device mounting structure and, more particularly, a wiring substrate in which connection terminals are provided on its side surface, an electronic device in which an electronic component is mounted on the wiring substrate, and an electronic device mounting structure in which the electronic device is mounted on a mounting substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, there is the electronic device in which the connection terminals are provided on the side surface side of a package. In Patent Literature 1 (Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) 2007-132687), the ceramic package for an acceleration sensor is disclosed, and it is set forth that the ceramic package has a hexahedron, lead terminals are provided redundantly on a bottom surface and a side surface that intersects orthogonally mutually, and an acceleration sensor is mounted on a circuit substrate by selecting either of the bottom surface and the side surface.
However, in the package (wiring substrate) formed of the ceramic, it is difficult to form micro wirings. Therefore, it is difficult to serve as a mounting substrate for a high-performance electronic component. For this reason, the wiring substrate having a new structure, in which the micro wirings can be formed and which has the connection terminals on a side surface side of the substrate, is demanded.


A two-stroke spark-ignition engine with through scavenging, exhaust valves (7), an injection nozzle (5) and sparking plug (6) in the cylinder head is characterized by higher volume efficiency and higher volume output with the possibility of gradual change of timing of air inlet into the engine cylinder (2) from the idle run to the full power. The use of a charger or turbocharger is convenient. Higher volume efficiency is achieved by a limitation of flow of exhaust gas back to the suction part through a gradual change of the inlet section to the engine cylinder (2) and by ensuring a higher air pressure before the inlet section. The change of the inlet section is achieved by a rotary bushing (4) on the cylinder (2) or insert of the engine cylinder (2), the bushing (4) being controlled with a control rod (14) from the throttle pedal.

In existing two-stroke spark-ignition engines the engine cylinder is filled via the crankcase with throttling of inlet air by a throttle valve in the suction pipeline or carburettor. A disadvantage of the current state of the art is imperfect scavenging of the cylinder with fresh air or a fresh mixture of air with fuel and low volume efficiency, which results in a lower power output per liter and higher fuel consumption.


An anvil adapted to be received within an impact wrench comprises a round body and a square head. The square head is formed at an end of the round body. A tapered ramp extends from the round body to the square head. A radius is formed in the tapered ramp.

The traditional design of an anvil for use in an impact wrench includes a round portion that transitions to a square portion. The round portion is received within the impact wrench and acts as a bearing journal. The square portion is received within an impact socket. The transition from the round cross section to the square cross section inherently creates sharp corners or small radii within the transition.
These sharp corners or small radii may create some inefficiencies in the design. Initially there is minimal clearance between the square portion of the anvil and the impact socket when the pieces are new. However, the impact socket may, over a long period of use, become "damaged", resulting in a looser fit to the square portion of the anvil. This increased clearance between the square portion interface and the impact socket allows the centerline of the square portion of the anvil and the centerline of the impact socket to become non-parallel. When this occurs, the theoretical line contact between the two that exists axially along the interface of the square portion and the impact socket becomes points of contact. These points of contact form at the sharp radii in the transition between the round body and the square drive and lead to zones of increased stress.
Moreover, as the impact socket becomes "damaged", the corners of the impact socket tend to "dig" into the sharp radii in the transition. This digging between the impact socket and the square portion can damage the anvil, resulting in stress concentration zones. As the stress builds at these points, the anvil may fail at the stress concentration zones. This then can contribute to an early failure of the anvil.
One solution to the problem of sharp radii in an anvil is to increase the overall strength of the anvil. For example, increases in the amount of alloying elements such as carbon or nickel in the steel have been attempted. Unfortunately, this alloying leads to increases in the amount of retained austenite within the anvil. The retained austenite inhibits strength for impact loading and often leads to fatigue failures. Accordingly, there remains a need to provide an improved anvil design that reduces the stress concentration zones and prolongs the life of the anvil.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Impact wrench anvil and method of forming an impact wrench anvil


A composite ceramic substrate for receiving an ejection head chip for a micro-fluid ejection head and a method for making the composite ceramic substrate. The substrate includes a high temperature previously fired ceramic base having a substantially planarized first surface and at least one fluid supply slot therethrough. A low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) tape layer bundle having at least two LTCC tape layers is attached to the ceramic base at an interface between the LTCC tape layer bundle and the first surface of the ceramic base. The LTTC tape layer bundle has at least one chip pocket therein and at least one of the LTCC tape layers includes a plurality of conductors.

Multi-layer circuit devices such as micro-fluid ejection heads have a plurality of electrically conductive layers separated by insulating dielectric layers and applied adjacent to a substrate, typically a semiconductor substrate. Thermal energy generators or heating elements, usually resistors, are located on an ejection head chip and are for heating and vaporizing fluid to be ejected.
Micro-fluid ejection devices such as ink jet printers continue to experience wide acceptance as economical replacements for laser printers. Micro-fluid ejection devices also are finding wide application in other fields such as in the medical, chemical, and mechanical fields. As the capabilities of micro-fluid ejection devices are increased to provide higher ejection rates, the ejection heads, which are the primary components of micro-fluid ejection devices, continue to evolve and become larger, more complex, and more costly to manufacture.
One significant obstacle to be overcome in micro-fluid ejection head manufacturing processes is maintaining the planarity of the ejection device substrate, also referred to as the ejection chip, and the nozzle plate during and after the manufacturing process. The planarity of the ejection chip and the nozzle plate, (hereainafter referred to as "ejection head chip") determines the direction in which a fluid such as ink is dispensed. If the nozzle plate is warped or bowed, due to warping or bowing of the underlying ejection device substrate, the desired direction of fluid-jetting is compromised. The planarity of these components may be affected by mismatched coefficients of thermal expansion between the various members of the ejection head, including the nozzle plate, the device substrate, the base support, and any adhesive material used in securing the aforementioned components to one another.
Current manufacturing processes are limited by the size of the ejection head substrate used to provide a single ejection head chip. In order to provide higher speed or quantity of fluid ejection, larger ejection heads are needed. Larger ejection heads may be provided by attaching multiple chips to a single substrate. However, mounting multiple chips on a single substrate increases the difficulties of maintaining manufacturing tolerances. For example, the difficulty of maintaining the planarity and manufacturing tolerances of multiple chips on a substrate is greatly increased as the number of chips on a substrate increases.
During the manufacturing process, a polymeric die attach adhesive is typically used to secure the components of the ejection head to one another. However, such adhesives require thermal curing which causes expansion and contraction of the components and may lead to warping or bowing of the ejection device substrate and the nozzle plate. Alterations in the thickness of the adhesive layer or the thickness of the underlying support material have led to only marginal improvements in the planarity of the finished devices.
Ceramic substrates, commonly high purity alumina, have been used for mounting multiple ejection head chips because of their dimensional stability and rigidity. Ceramic substrates are generally formed in a "green", pliable, unfired state and then fired prior to mounting the chips on the substrate. During firing, shrinkage occurs, leading to poor control over dimensional tolerances in the as-fired state. Accordingly, subsequent lapping may be required to provide a suitably planar surface for mounting the ejection head chips.
Another tolerance parameter for mounting multiple ejection head chips on a single substrate is that the ejection head chips have bond pads on the same surface as the ejectors for connection to wiring typically provided on a flexible circuit or printed circuit board (PCB). Accordingly, it is desirable for the surface surrounding the ejection head chips to be in substantially the same plane as the ejector surface for effective wiping, maintenance, and capping. Therefore chips have often been mounted in recessed "pockets" to facilitate maintenance functions and to allow for interconnection to wiring. Providing a planar die attach surface for mounting multiple chips in recessed pockets is difficult and increases the difficulty of manufacturing large, multi-chip ejection heads. Accordingly, there is a need to improve the manufacturing techniques and tolerances for making multi-chip micro-fluid ejection devices.
In view of the foregoing and other needs, an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides a composite ceramic substrate for receiving an ejection head chip or chips for a micro-fluid ejection head. The substrate includes a ceramic base having a substantially planarized first surface and at least one fluid supply slot therethrough. A low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) tape layer bundle having at least two LTCC tape layers is attached to the ceramic base at an interface between the LTCC tape layer bundle and the first surface of the ceramic base. The LTTC tape layer bundle has at least one opening therein providing side walls of a chip pocket when attached to the ceramic base and at least one of the LTCC tape layers includes a plurality of conductors for providing electrical connections to the ejection head chip in the chip pocket.
Another exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides a method for fabricating a micro-fluid ejection head structure. According to the method, conductors are applied to a surface of at least one low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) tape layer having a chip pocket, opening therein. A bundle of two or more green LTCC tape layers having chip pocket openings therein including the LTCC tape layer having the conductors thereon is formed. The bundle of LTCC tape layers is attached to a substantially planarized surface of a previously fired ceramic base to provide a composite ceramic structure. The composite ceramic structure is then fired at a temperature ranging from about 800° to about 1000° C. to provide the micro-fluid ejection head structure having encapsulated conductors therein.
An advantage of the composite ceramic structure according to the disclosure is that a substantially planar surface of a previously fired ceramic material base may be provided for improved planarity of micro-fluid ejection head chips attached to the base. Additionally, the LTCC layer bundle provides improved encapsulation of conductors after tiring the ceramic base. Use of LTCC layers to provide the LTCC layer bundle also enables the use of relatively low resistance conductor material to provide the encapsulated conductors lines.
By comparison, micro-fluid ejection beads using substrates made of high temperature co-fired (HTCC) tape layers, as described in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2002/0033861, 2004/0113996, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,880, are fired at temperatures of about 1600° C., and thus require the use of refractory metals that have relatively high resistance. Use of the LTCC layers for encapsulating the conductors enables the use of relatively lower firing temperatures and the use of non-refractory metals for conductors. Another advantage of the LTCC layers is that LTCC materials are available that have a shrinkage rate in the X-Y plane of less than about 1%. Since the LTCC layers may be laminated to a base ceramic substrate at temperatures substantially below 1600° C., dimensional changes and/or warpage of the base ceramic and delamination between the base ceramic and LTCC layers is minimized.

Composite ceramic substrate for micro-fluid ejection head