Abstract: An apparatus and method for removing lightweight particulates during processing of a primary material. The apparatus includes a classification tank having an inlet, an outlet and a plurality of settling stations located therebetween. A slurry of fluid and particles is introduced into the inlet and directed towards the outlet. As the slurry traverses along the classification tank, particles come out of suspension at the settling stations according to weight and to a lesser degree, density. The composition as well as the quantity of particles at the settling stations is periodically inspected. If particles deposited at a particular settling station are more or less the same size, and if they have accumulated in sufficient quantity, they are discharged to a flume which directs them to preselected collection areas.

Abstract: An assembly for mechanically mounting and providing electrical connections to overcurrent protection devices having first and second male power plugs includes a non-conductive main structural support member having a plurality of plug passageways formed therein and one or more load busbar modules mounted thereon and also including a plug passageway formed therein, to enable the male electrical plugs to mate with sockets disposed in a conductive line busbar member mounted on said support member and with a socket disposed in a load busbar member included in each load busbar module. Each load busbar module includes a non-conductive housing and a releasable cover within which is mounted the load busbar member. A printed circuit board substrate is preferably also mounted to said support member to provide a support surface for auxiliary signal clip connectors disposed on one side of the substrate.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a large stationary, aggregate processing screening tower by fabricating weldment modules and preassembling them with aggregate processing equipment internal within the weldment modules, transporting the preassembled weldment modules to a field work site where the tower is to be erected on a foundation, aligning the modules and stacking the modules in layers and then bolting adjacent modules together. A large stationary, aggregate processing screening tower has weldment modules preassembled with aggregate processing equipment internal within the modules. The preassembled modules are stacked up on one another and secured together and can receive aggregate product at the top module and the product is processed by screening and sizing as it moves downwardly by gravity through the modules and their processing equipment for final clarification and collection of the product.

Abstract: An assembly for mechanically mounting and providing electrical connections to overcurrent protection devices having first and second male power plugs includes a non-conductive main structural support member having a plurality of plug passageways formed therein and one or more load busbar modules mounted thereon and also including a plug passageway formed therein, to enable the male electrical plugs to mate with sockets disposed in a conductive line busbar member mounted on said support member and with a socket disposed in a load busbar member included in each load busbar module. Each load busbar module includes a non-conductive housing and a releasable cover within which is mounted the load busbar member. A printed circuit board substrate is preferably also mounted to said support member to provide a support surface for auxiliary signal clip connectors disposed on one side of the substrate.

Abstract: An improved secondary control circuit is provided for controlling synchronous rectifiers in a switching power converter. The secondary control circuit employs control signals from a primary control circuit to drive two synchronous rectifiers. In particular, the secondary control circuit is operable to drive both synchronous rectifiers to an on state during a dead time period of operation. The onset of the dead time period occurs when the diagonal conducting switching device is driven to an off state. The secondary control circuit is further operable to drive the second of the two synchronous rectifiers to an on state only after one of the diagonal switching devices has been driven to an off state by the primary control circuit. In this way, the improved secondary control circuit eliminates the risk of cross conduction between the synchronous rectifiers.

Abstract: The present invention provides for an apparatus and corresponding method for controlling inrush current in an AC-DC power converter by controlling the state of a plurality of silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) when AC power is lost. The present invention provides full control of inrush current even during cold startup, warm startup, and power line disturbance conditions. The present invention controls inrush current without the need for an extra series dissapative device and its consequent additional losses. The preferred embodiment includes use of the present invention for AC-DC converters having active power factor correction. An alternative embodiment is for use in non-power factor corrected applications.

Abstract: Power consumption of a low-power flyback power converter under standby-load or no-load conditions is reduced by modulating the OFF time of the flyback transformer's main switch as a function of the feedback control current when the load drops below a predetermined level. This modulation overcomes the conventional frequency-increasing modulation of the ON time at low output power levels so as to reduce the switching frequency, and hence the switching losses, to minimal levels as the load is reduced. Excessive frequency reduction can optionally be avoided by a clamping feature that limits the expansion of the OFF time.

Abstract: A semiconductor packaging structure comprising a hybrid IC package having at least one IC chip mounted therein is disclosed. The semiconductor packaging structure includes a DC-DC switching power supply mounted within the hybrid IC package that is electrically coupled to at least one of the IC chips by conductive paths formed in said hybrid IC package for supplying at least one specified voltage to the at least one IC chip. Power is supplied to the DC-DC switching power supply from a remote power source.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a large stationary, aggregate processing screening tower by fabricating weldment modules and preassembling them with aggregate processing equipment internal within the weldment modules, transporting the preassembled weldment modules to a field work site where the tower is to be erected on a foundation, aligning the modules and stacking the modules in layers and then bolting adjacent modules together. A large stationary, aggregate processing screening tower has weldment modules preassembled with aggregate processing equipment internal within the modules. The preassembled modules are stacked up on one another and secured together and can receive aggregate product at the top module and the product is processed by screening and sizing as it moves downwardly by gravity through the modules and their processing equipment for final clarification and collection of the product.

Abstract: An enclosure for small power supplies for cellular telephones, laptop computers and the like is formed in two layers. The first layer is an inner box constructed of a pair of about 0.8 mm thick PBT shells that enclose and retain the electronics. The second layer is an overmolding of about 1.0 mm. thick PVC that surrounds the shells, seals them together, and forms a strain relief for a cable attached to the electronics. The two-layer construction allows considerable savings in material and assembly costs.

Abstract: A switched magamp post regulator in a power converter incorporating a switched set mode control circuit which minimizes the power loss associated with the control transistor of a set mode magamp post regulator is disclosed. Power loss in set mode is minimized by switching the control transistor on and off synchronously with the main transformer. The incorporation of set mode and switching allows the use of less expensive ferrite core materials with increased efficiency for operation at higher frequencies and higher temperatures.

Abstract: A combination DC/data bus assembly for power converter equipment racks includes a pair of side-by-side vertical DC bus bars forming a slot between them. Extruded insulating strips carrying data bus bars are mounted in the DC bus bars so that the data bus bars face each other across the slot. Channels are formed in the front faces of the DC bus bars. A connector mounted on the power converter chassis has male DC contacts that engage the channels, and a male data contact assembly that slides into the slot to make contact with the data bus bars.

Abstract: A boost converter topology is disclosed that includes a resonant network comprising a snubber inductive element having a primary winding connected in series to a first resonant diode that is connected, at a first node, to two series connected additional resonant diodes and a secondary winding coupled to a fourth resonant diode connected to the first node. The present invention has the advantage of reducing the energy stored in the parasitic capacitor of the first resonant diode by a factor of four at the turn off of the main control switch. This reduction is achieved by allowing only a small amount of energy transfer to the snubber inductive element so that it does not turn the two additional resonant diodes on before the auxiliary switch is turned on, thus reducing losses and EMI associated with turning on the auxiliary switch.

Abstract: In a power converter rack in which power converters of varying heights are stacked, a selectably vertically positionable AC connector module is provided. The AC connector module releasably hooks into apertures in a vertical mounting strip attached to the rack adjacent to an AC cable duct. The AC connector module has a terminal block to which an AC cable can be attached, and a contact block with female power contacts and a protruding grounding pin that makes first contact with an equipment chassis. The grounding pin also has a beveled tip to align the chassis with the AC connector module as it is slid into place in the rack.

Abstract: AC line harmonics are reduced in an AC-powered DC power supply by providing a boost circuit which, during the positive half-cycle of the AC input, adds the charge of a boost capacitor to the AC input voltage so as to initiate current flow through the harmonic suppression inductor before the AC input voltage rises to the level of the bulk capacitance charge. The boost capacitor is charged from a separate voltage source during the negative half-cycle of the AC input, which also provides early current flow from the neutral.

Abstract: An electrical adapter is supported by a housing and includes an electrical plug assembly having an input for receiving a high voltage, a converter electrically coupled to the assembly for converting the high voltage to a low voltage, and a retractable cable assembly supported by the housing and electrically coupled to the converter. The retractable cable assembly includes a cable coupled at one end to an electrical plug for outputting the low voltage to the electrical device, and is enabled to retract the cable. In a preferred embodiment, the retractable cable assembly includes slots defined within a bore of a cable reel to support a pair of first interengageable electrical contacts coupled to the other end of the low voltage cable. These electrical contacts rotationally mate with a pair of second interengageable electrical contacts disposed along the axis of rotation within the retractable cable assembly. One of the first contacts includes a pair of edges defining a gap therein.

Abstract: A method and device for replacing quickly a pipe electrode small-hole electric discharge machining to make a small-hole in a work by electric discharge machining. To make replacement of a pipe electrode 1, an electrode magazine 5 containing an electrode guide 4 in which the pipe electrode 1 is accommodated is replaced by using means. The electrode magazine 5 has a self-position maintenance tip 8 for maintaining the position taken by the electrode 1 until then while the electrode magazine 5 is removed from the electrode discharge machine and resuming the electrode discharge from the position after the electrode magazine 5 is attached again to the electric discharge machine.

Abstract: A waveform generator embodied in a single tester unit. The hardware includes an integrated high frequency digital/analog signal generator that allows “infinite” length of signals, integrated colored noise source with thermal asperity generator and a PC style computer including standard storage systems and connectors that are custom configurable. Optionally, additional hardware such as an oscilloscope can be integrated to further centralize all the tools required by the engineer without adding interconnectivity problems for the engineer to deal with. The software includes a generic or standard operating system, GUI (graphical user interface), and specialized interface software for easy input/definition of sequences, waveform, and drive configuration. The software also includes a mathematical model of the head/disk system used in drives, with customization options, and the ability to do monte-carlo analysis to study distributions of signal waveforms.

Abstract: A jaw crusher having a stationary jaw and a movable jaw which define a variable crushing gap (or closed side setting), a toggle beam, and a toggle between the toggle beam and the movable jaw, and a toggle seat between the toggle and each of the beam and movable jaw for seating the toggle against the beam and movable jaw. A double-acting hydraulic ram having a connection with the toggle beam for shifting the toggle beam toward and away from the fixed jaw. An abutment is supported by the housing and engageable by the toggle beam for defining an adjustably variable limit of shifting thereof. End caps provide a rigidly guided sliding toggle beam having a plurality of alternatively selectable positions of adjustment.

Abstract: A slide assembly has a first portion which is mounted to a chassis and a second portion which is mounted to vertical support members of a rack assembly for supporting the chassis. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the slide assembly includes a pair of slide members, each of which has a movable track member, a flange, a clamp, a latch, and a spring-loaded releasable lock actuator. The flange includes a bracket which is used to mount the slide member to the rack assembly without the use of tools or fasteners. The track member is coupled to the flange and slidably moves on the flange between an inner locked operational position and an outer extended position relative to the rack assembly. The clamp and latch are both spring-loaded to engage each other and to prevent movement of the chassis when pushed into the operational position.