Abstract: A water filter includes a cartridge filter element mounted on a coaxial bearing so it can be spun. During normal operation, a pressure tank enclosure allows the outside of the cartridge filter element to be submerged. Filtered water is then collected by a filtered-water return inside the cartridge filter element. An air vent disposed in the pressure tank housing allows water to drain away before starting a cleaning cycle, and to bleed off trapped air before returning to normal operation. During cleaning, a flow of clean water is applied to the filtered-water drain. A wash drain in the bottom of the pressure tank enclosure allows used cleaning water to flow out. The reverse water flow through the filtered-water drain forces closed a flapper valve. This, in turn, causes a water spray jet manifold to fill under pressure and cleaning water sprays out from slightly offset nozzles directed at the cartridge filter element.

Abstract: A receiver-type trailer hitch system embodiment of the present invention comprises a splint assembly with a pair of opposing clamps that simultaneously engage opposite sides of the outer surfaces of an open end of a hitch receiver tube and shank end of a trailer coupling adaptor after being locked into place with a clevis pin. The splint assembly is tightened with a pair of bolts in a vice-like assembly to bring the opposing clamps hard against the hitch receiver tube and the trailer coupling adaptor to eliminate wobble and free-play that would otherwise exist between them.

Abstract: A wire bonding machine having a wire bonding head that provides five directions of movement or degrees of freedom. The radial direction of movement supports the wire bonding process and reduces the moving mass of the wire bonder during the generation of the wire bonds. The wire bonding machine further includes a selectable side view inspection system. Through a group of optical components, the assembly process can be selectively viewed from either a side view or a top view. The side view of the assembly process provides for improved analysis of the wire bond quality which can be monitored by a camera.

Abstract: A number of laser beam stations emit vertically separated parallel planes and/or ray-planes of laser light that can be discriminated by their respective plane elevations, modulation of the laser light, time synchronizing, etc. Identifying the laser plane would also imply an identification of the source laser beam station, and thus a precise indication of the elevation at the point of optical intercept. Alternatively, a single laser beam station is used that can emit several different monochromatic color planes and/or ray-planes of laser light. Monochromatic laser diodes, for example, are used for point-light sources and rotating or on-end conical mirrors are used to convert the diode laser light to the required monochromatic color planes and/or ray-planes of laser light.

Abstract: An aircraft turn guidance system comprises a satellite navigation receiver connected to a turn path computer. Position, velocity and waypoint headings and distances are communicated from the satellite navigation receiver to the turn path computer. Roll angle, airframe and airspace constraints are fed to the turn path computer which computes a constant roll turn for the constraints when transitioning a waypoint from the inbound to outbound legs. The effects of wind on the airmass are computed in to account for real world conditions.

Abstract: A light source comprises a high intensity lamp that is clamped between four half-shell finned heatsinks. The upper heatsink half-shells for the anode and cathode ends of the lamp are mounted to an upper printed circuit board and the lower heatsink half-shells are mounted to a lower main printed circuit board. A direct current powered fan is positioned on one side to blow horizontally through the matrix of heatsinks and out the opposite side. Only the lamp igniter and fan power supply circuits are included in the upper printed circuit board which receives lamp power from the lower printed circuit boards through the anode and cathode heatsinks and one additional connection comprising a flexible wire. The main power supply is included on the lower printed circuit board and it converts and preregulates 110 VAC or 220 VAC to 160 VDC to a transistor chopping switch that in turn provides the required low voltage lamp power.

Abstract: In a computer system, a method for an area based place and route of an integrated circuit layout that provides automatic iterative area placement of module cells intelligently and effectively. In one embodiment, this is accomplished in three phases. The searching phase determines which hot spot is to be refined based on a congestion map. Next, the refining phase chooses a box with the proper aspect ratio, cut line direction, and placement options for minimizing the hot spot. The scheduling phase then decides whether to proceed with another area placement based on the current result or to restore a previous placement that exhibited superior characteristics. In the course of the area placements, several parameters are randomly varied in an intelligent manner so that successive iterative area placements produce equivalent or better results. All of this is accomplished without human intervention or expert knowledge. Instead, the computer system continuously runs its program until a design goal is attained.

Abstract: A method for optimal track assignment in a grid-based channel router. Initially, interconnection information is extracted from a global routing result. Multiple pin nets derived from the interconnection information are decomposed into simpler mapped segments. A channel grid map is then built and marked with existing objects. Next, a vertical constraint graph specifying the relative positions of the mapped segments is constructed. A first track is computed. A track assignment loop is repeated until all requisite connections are realized. The track assignment loop includes the steps of breaking cycles and long paths and collecting a set of feasible links. One or more weighting functions are assigned to each such feasible link. A dynamic programming approach is used to select an optimal set of feasible links according to the weighting functions. In addition, an optimal set of feasible links corresponding to unpreferred layers is collected by applying dynamic programming.

Abstract: A short-coupled-path extender comprises a two-inch thick housing that inserts as a spacer between a plasma source and a vacuum chamber in various kinds of semiconductor processing equipment. The spacer housing is generally constructed of aluminum and is thermally well-connected to the vacuum chamber and its liquid cooling system to dispose of the heat it collects from the plasma source flow. The plasma source bolts up to a central inlet port on the spacer housing that leads to a first quartz-lined antechamber within. The plasma source flow encounters a traverse metal wall at the back of the first antechamber and is forced to flow radially outward to a system of small outer ports that connect to a second quartz-lined antechamber. The plasma source flow then collects back together and exits the second antechamber through a central outlet port that bolts up to the plasma source seat on the vacuum chamber.

Abstract: A weep drain for a tile wall includes a dam for collecting water, moisture, or other liquids and an extrusion with a plurality of hollow cylindrical tubes for allowing the water, moisture or other liquids to drain from behind the tile wall.

Abstract: A memory system comprises an array of parallel removable hard disk cartridges and matching drives. Each cartridge is recorded with an array position signature so that an array can be programmatically reconstructed each time the cartridges are loaded in their drives without regard to the original physical associations of cartridges to drives.

Abstract: A method comprises receiving a diskette into a drive, determining the logical format type of the data written on the diskette, and targeting any recorded track on either surface of the diskette that has both inner and outer adjacent tracks. The head actuator in the drive is moved to the expected position for the targeted track that has been determined by a factory precalibration. The head actuator is then stepped inside by one sixteenth of the width of a standard track pitch and an attempt is made to read a sector header from the recorded track. If the reading of the sector header succeeded, the head actuator is stepped in again by one sixteenth and the sector header is read again. Such inward stepping is continued until the reading of the sector header fails. The radial position at which this occurs is defined as the inner boundary of the track. The outer boundary is found in similar fashion. The track center is computed as the midpoint between such inner and outer boundaries.

Abstract: A GPS receiver downconverter combines on a single integrated circuit, a first super-heterodyne mixer, a voltage controlled oscillator, a phase locked loop, a pair of quadrature mixers and a pair of quantizers with in-phase and quadrature-phase sampler outputs operable at twenty-five MHz and 2.5 MHz. Emitter-coupled logic and special low-voltage bipolar semiconductor technology are combined for 3.3 volt operation at under one hundred milliwatts.

Abstract: A ball transfer cube includes a prismatically shaped cubed housing, a bearing race, small ball bearings, a main ball bearing and a housing cap for insertion into a prismatically shaped grating used by shipping companies.