Abstract: A cooling system that can be used, for example, for cooling electrical circuit boards housed in an equipment cabinet. The cooling system includes a flow-rate-amplifying pump configured to introduce ambient air into the cabinet. The flow-rate-amplifying pump is a passive device, which has a primary intake and a secondary intake and is designed to produce a large flow of relatively cool ambient air into the cabinet through the primary intake using a small volume of compressed air applied to the secondary intake. In one embodiment, the cooling system has an auxiliary pump driven by a windmill device. Rotation of a propeller in the windmill device is converted into piston oscillation in the auxiliary pump, which oscillation is used to compress air and apply it to the secondary intake of the flow-rate-amplifying pump. A cooling system of the invention can provide efficient cooling while being self-sustaining and generating less noise and/or electrical interference than prior art cooling systems.

Abstract: A cutting tool that can be used to form a stepped cable end prior to the attachment of an electrical connector to a coaxial cable. The cutting tool has a blade assembly supported inside a housing on a pair of cams. A coaxial cable is inserted into the cutting tool and the housing is rotated about the cable to push the blade assembly along spiral tracks in the cams. According to one embodiment of the invention, the blade assembly has three blades, each blade sized and positioned to make a cut of the corresponding appropriate depth in the coaxial cable thereby forming the desired stepped cable end. Cutting tools of the invention may be adapted for preparation of large-diameter (e.g., over 1 inch) coaxial cables.

Abstract: A cooling system of the invention can be used, for example, for cooling of electrical circuit boards housed in an equipment cabinet. The cooling system includes a flow-rate-amplifying pump configured to introduce ambient air into the cabinet. The pump is a passive device, which has a primary intake and a secondary intake and is designed to convert a small volume of compressed air applied to the secondary intake into a large flow of relatively cool ambient air into the cabinet through the primary intake. In one embodiment, the cooling system is designed to use the heat generated within the cabinet to produce compressed air. The air circulating around the circuit boards heats up and rises to the top of the cabinet, where it, is channeled toward an air vent. When the air exits through the vent, it rotates an appropriately placed propeller. The torque generated by the propeller is then used to drive an air compressor, the output of which is coupled to the secondary intake of the air amplifying pump.

Abstract: Improved methods for fabricating smart cards are disclosed. Semiconductor die approximately 0.004 to 0.007 inches thick are fabricated using chemical stress relief processes and UV dicing tape. The die are positioned substantially on the neutral axis of a smart card, thereby providing smart cards having improved resistance to mechanical flexure.

Abstract: An electronic module (10) includes a processor (12), having a set of contacts (26) coupled to a set of metallized areas (24) on a first device carrier (16), and a programmable memory device (14), having a set of contacts (40) coupled to each of a set of conductive members (46) depending from a second device carrier (33) stacked above the first carrier. Interposed between the two device carriers is an interposer layer (48), a routing layer (60) and a conduction layer (70) which collectively provide a path between a separate first metallized area (24) on the first device carrier and a conductive member (46) on the second device carrier to couple the processor to the memory. At least one clip (72) releasably secures the second device carrier to the first device carrier to allow the second device carrier to be separated so that the programmable memory device can be programmed off-line.