Abstract: Furnace cart assembly for loading high temperature vacuum furnaces for treating target material, for example, metal parts, under extreme temperature and vacuum environments. The furnace cart includes electrical heating elements as an integral part of the cart, which elements are adapted for releasable connection to the furnace electrical supply. When so connected the furnace cart heating elements can form a part of the heating system of the furnace. The lower part of the furnace cart assembly, including a frame above and supported on wheels, the frame having heat reflection means on at least Its upper surfaces providing some protection from heat is preferably also protected from heat during furnace operation by insulating material above the frame (the material desirably supported by the frame but separated therefrom).

Abstract: An alerting system is provided for proactively ensuring awareness of pending trouble tickets which have not been resolved for at least a predetermined time duration corresponding to an escalation level. A customer service center selects the time duration. The alerting system includes a manager module which periodically monitors the pending trouble tickets and determines whether each pending trouble ticket remains unresolved for the time duration corresponding to the escalation level. The alerting system also includes an alerting module which sends an alert to a recipient assigned to the escalation level when the manager module determines the pending trouble ticket has not been resolved for the time duration corresponding to the escalation level. The alerting system may also include a parsing module which parses the pending trouble tickets to remove extraneous and invalid information. The parsing module also organizes the pending trouble tickets into data records according to a predefined format.

Abstract: An alerting system is provided for proactively ensuring awareness of pending customer generated trouble tickets which have not been resolved for at least a predetermined time duration corresponding to an escalation level. A customer service center selects the time duration. The alerting system includes a manager module which periodically monitors the pending customer generated trouble tickets and determines whether each pending customer generated trouble ticket remains unresolved for the time duration corresponding to the escalation level. The alerting system also includes an alerting module which sends an alert to a recipient assigned to the escalation level when the manager module determines the pending customer generated trouble ticket has not been resolved for the time duration corresponding to the escalation level. The alerting system may also include a parsing module which parses the pending customer generated trouble tickets to remove extraneous and invalid information.

Abstract: An apparatus integrates disparate systems. The apparatus includes a platform that supports a control interface. The platform also supports a different user interface for each of the disparate systems. The platform enables the formatting and transfer of data from the apparatus to each of the disparate systems.

Abstract: An apparatus that integrates a plurality of disparate systems. a common control interface is presented to a user of the apparatus. The user employs an inputting device to enter data required by the plurality of disparate systems. The inputted data is inputted to the common interface. The data is then transferred from the common control interface to at least one of the plurality of disparate systems.

Abstract: Furnace cart assembly and system for loading high temperature vacuum furnaces for treating heavy target material, for example, massive metal parts, under extreme temperature and vacuum environments. The furnace cart includes electrical heating elements as an integral part of the cart, which elements are adapted for releasable connection to the furnace electrical supply. When so connected the furnace cart heating elements can form a part of the heating system of the furnace. The furnace cart can be delivered to the furnace on a separate transfer cart adapted to carry the furnace cart to the furnace opening thereby assisting the positioning of the furnace cart for entry into the furnace. The system for loading the furnace includes loading target material on the furnace cart outside the furnace for transfer of the cart with load of target material into the furnace.

Abstract: A vacuum hose storage unit for insertion within a wall is described that includes a housing with a nozzle/retractor compartment and a hose storage compartment. An opening in the hose storage compartment is in communication with an external conduit leading to a remote vacuum source. Initially, the housing can be used to connect a separately stored hose to the vacuum source by positioning an inlet connector in the nozzle/retractor compartment, and connecting an internal conduit from the inlet connector to the opening in the hose compartment. Subsequently, the internal conduit can be replaced with a hose that is stored in the hose storage compartment and a retractor to extend the hose through the nozzle/retractor compartment. One part of the nozzle/retractor compartment can be covered with a wall covering, with the retractor being inserted into another part of the nozzle/retractor compartment and then moved behind the wall covering.

Abstract: An alerting system is provided for proactively ensuring awareness of pending customer generated trouble tickets which have not been resolved for at least a predetermined time duration corresponding to an escalation level. A customer service center selects the time duration. The alerting system includes a manager module which periodically monitors the pending customer generated trouble tickets and determines whether each pending customer generated trouble ticket remains unresolved for the time duration corresponding to the escalation level. The alerting system also includes an alerting module which sends an alert to a recipient assigned to the escalation level when the manager module determines the pending customer generated trouble ticket has not been resolved for the time duration corresponding to the escalation level. The alerting system may also include a parsing module which parses the pending customer generated trouble tickets to remove extraneous and invalid information.

Abstract: An alerting system is provided for proactively ensuring awareness of pending customer generated trouble tickets which have not been resolved for at least a predetermined time duration corresponding to an escalation level. A customer service center selects the time duration. The alerting system includes a manager module which periodically monitors the pending customer generated trouble tickets and determines whether each pending customer generated trouble ticket remains unresolved for the time duration corresponding to the escalation level. The alerting system also includes an alerting module which sends an alert to a recipient assigned to the escalation level when the manager module determines the pending customer generated trouble ticket has not been resolved for the time duration corresponding to the escalation level. The alerting system may also include a parsing module which parses the pending customer generated trouble tickets to remove extraneous and invalid information.

Abstract: An electrical insulating and heating element support mechanism for a high temperature vacuum furnace having a support rod with an electrical insulating and support mechanism for connecting a heating element to the rod in an electrically non-connected position includes insulators and cup shaped shields each with a wall radially surrounding an insulator. The electrically non-connected shield wall is spaced from the heating element and the insulator radial surface but covers at least a portion of the insulator radial surface to protect the mechanism from deposition of conductive materials that could cause shorts that could damage the furnace and materials being treated in the furnace. The walls of the cup shaped shields can be shaped in a number of different ways, for example, cylindrical or flared, but desirably have a circular radial dimension. The shields are desirably made with graphite.

Abstract: This invention relates to heat treating furnaces which employ electric resistance heating elements and, in particular, to improved processes for repairing such furnaces and heating elements particularly useful in such repair. A typical vacuum furnace employing this invention provides a hot zone that is made for heavy duty heat treating applications. The furnace has a series of banks of axial-spaced electrical resistance heating elements suspended from an inner wall of its hot zone chamber by a series of support rods. Repeated furnace use can result in heating element fractures, which necessitate replacement of the heating elements. The replacement in accordance with this invention is with an element having a thicker and narrower cross section than previously existed in the furnace. The specially designed width-to-thickness aspect ratio heating elements according to this invention enables the elements to have a longer life between replacements.

Abstract: The present invention provides a high temperature vacuum furnace including a hot zone, which is made for heavy-duty heat treating applications. In a preferred embodiment, the hot zone chamber has an outer and an inner wall. The inner wall includes a heat shield secured to it for containing radiant energy. The hot zone chamber further includes a plurality of banks of electric resistance heating elements spaced axially within the chamber. Heating elements in furnaces according to this invention have a specially designed width-to-thickness aspect ratio, which enables heating elements to have a longer life between replacements. These heating elements can be designed in polygon banks or arrays, which virtually completely surround the workpiece and provide maximum temperature uniformity during heating.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are disclosed for remotely testing communications circuits, such as digital communications circuits for telephony-based services. According to the disclosed apparatus and method, status or history information related to the communications circuits is received from a tracking system. A control system is provided which manages testing of the communications circuits, and a database is provided which stores data associated with the communications circuits. Further, a testing system which performs a test operation or a predetermined sequence of tests on the communications circuits and determines a condition of the tested circuit(s), and a notification system which notifies service center personnel of the condition of the tested circuit are also provided. Information is received from the tracking system and utilized to extract a list of the communication circuits to be tested, which are stored in the database.