摘要:
A structural connection device to be used primarily as a toy in conjunction with foam tubes, popularly known as “noodles” which are commonly used at swimming pools, wherein the connector is preferably made from foam and is configured as a longitudinal flexible member with a pattern of holes, each of which is slightly smaller than the diameter of a typical noodle, such that a noodle can be press-fit into a connector strip hole to act as a structural node; and because the connector may be made from foam, particularly for toy use, it can be bent and twisted, therefore enabling one simple element to act as a complex-shaped node into which many noodles can be inserted and used in conjunction with other connectors to build complex structures. Because the connector and the noodles are flexible, together they have immense play value because users are not limited by fixed angles and rigid members; and, indeed, because the elements are flexible, users learn to use proper diagonal bracing methods in order to provide stability to the structures. When made from a resilient material such as rubber, the connector can also be used with hard structural members, such as plastic pipe, to rapidly construct emergency structures.
摘要:
A material transportation system includes one or more material transportation vehicles, each having magnetic wheels coupled to a magnetically attractive surface that can include a ceiling, a wall, a floor, and/or a transition region. The material transportation vehicles are adapted to carry material from place to place. Each material transportation vehicle has sensors and motor controls that reduce swing motion of the material transportation vehicle and the material coupled thereto. A collision avoidance and traffic control system prevents collisions between the one or more material transportation vehicles.
摘要:
A semiconductor structure for controlling the temperature of a component is described. The structure includes a resistive layer having one or more channels provided therein and having a resistance characteristic such that a signal applied thereto causes the resistive layer to generate heat. A cooling fluid is fed through the one or more channels to cool both the structure and a component disposed on the structure. By providing the cooling channels in the resistive layer, the heating and cooling sources are intermingled. The structure can optionally include precising and vacuum clamping structures, to locate and hold the component that is to be temperature controlled.
摘要:
A kinematic coupling for a test system with a test head which must be docked with a handling device. The coupling is implemented with a plurality of modules attached to the test head. Each module has one kinematic surface and is designed to mate with another kinematic surface on the handling device. Each module includes a motor which can extend or retract the kinematic surface. These modules allow docking of the test head to the handling device with a final motion perpendicular to the handler. They also allow the tilt angle between the test head and the handler to be adjusted to achieve planarization.
摘要:
A novel system for kinematically positioning planar surfaces such as printed circuit board components and elements of material, where one element has precisely formed and positioned (e.g., punched) slots that fit loosely over three corresponding posts, such that when a bias force, such as gravity from a tilted plane or a combing action, or expanding bladder on the posts, is applied, the surfaces are referenced to one side of the slots to in effect form a planar kinematic coupling so the relative planar position and orientation is defined with great accuracy and repeatability; such also allowing an entire factory system to be built where each piece of precision manufacturing equipment can use this planar kinematic coupling to achieve great accuracy in the manufacture of printed circuit boards or the like to allow for the use of ever smaller electronics components.
摘要:
The invention is concerned with the formation of modular units from individual plate-like elements and other elements with special interlocking joints at their ends that allow them to form cubes that can be grouped together to form storage "cubbies" and modular structural systems and toy construction sets and the like, wherein, in one embodiment, the plates are formed with one end having studs on a 45 degree angled surface, and the other end having receptacles or openings such as sockets on a 45 degree angled surface for interlocking with a second mating plate like the first, but in which the studs and sockets are interchanged, allowing a cube to be formed by two of each type of plate, with the use of studs and sockets on the surfaces allowing two or more such cubes to stick together; and wherein, in another embodiment, the cube is made from four identical plates, as by an extrusion process, where one end of a plate contains double male features, such as barb arrows, and the other end contains double corresponding female features that mate with the male features from other plates, whereby the male and female features allow the ends of the plates to slide into each other like a dovetail to form a cube, and with adjoining cubes sharing surfaces. Other variations are also disclosed, as well as novel extruded truss sections.
摘要:
A hydraulic system has a rotary valve which controls multiple hydraulic dces such as double-acting piston type actuators and which prevents deactivated devices from creeping. The valve has an outer housing and a rotatable inner member which form high pressure inlet, low pressure outlet, and control stages. The control stages utilize partial commutators (part circumferential grooves) and ports on the valve member selectively to couple control ports of the housing respectively to the inlet stage or the outlet stage by rotating the inner valve member (the control ports being connected to the hydraulic devices). At the inlet and outlet stages, the valve member has full annular commutators which communicate continuously with a high pressure inlet port and a low pressure vent port of the housing as the valve member is rotated. The valve member also has internal passageways which connect each control stage partial commutator and fluid port to either the inlet commutator or the outlet commutator. The control stages are arranged such that control ports not selected for coupling to the inlet stage will be coupled to the outlet stage and therefore vented to low pressure. This prevents any high pressure fluid leakage within the valve from flowing to non-selected devices, which therefore cannot creep. Thrust loads on the rotatable valve member are prevented by porting the inner end of the valve member to the outlet commutator in order to vent fluid from the closed inner end of the housing.
摘要:
In a system that includes a linearly movable carriage or the like, a mechanism to convert rotary motion of a leadscrew to linear motion of a nut and, hence, linear movement of the carriage to which the nut is mechanically secured. The leadscrew has a special threadform and the nut has a special threadform that matches the threadform of the leadscrew with a pressurized fluid interface therebetween, there being both axial clearance and radial clearance sufficient to accommodate angular and lateral misalignment between the leadscrew and the carriage. Shallow independent grooves or passages are distributed along the length nut's helical threadform to equalize air pressure therealong and orifices are provided to the grooves or passages to permit introduction of high pressure air or other fluid thereto. Exhausts are provided from the region of clearance between the leadscrew threadform and the nut threadform. Both threadforms are ideally in the form of square threads.
摘要:
A pressure measuring device includes a partially coiled tube having a closed end and an opposite open end. The closed end is rolled and set into a coiled configuration. The device also includes a partially coiled tube supporting structure having a pressure indicating scale. The supporting structure holds the partially coiled tube such that the open end of the tube is in communication with a fluid whose pressure is to be measured. Pressure applied by the fluid causes the tube to unroll and the closed end of the tube to be visibly displaced relative to the pressure indicating scale by a distance related to the pressure applied by the fluid.
摘要:
A syringe having an internal pressure gauge comprises a syringe barrel; a piston within the barrel; a spring coupled to the piston at a first position of the spring, the spring having a second portion that is movable in response to fluid pressure within a syringe cavity; and a pressure gauge having an indicator correlated to a plurality of positions of the second portion of the spring to indicate a pressure of a fluid. The spring can be a bellows. The first portion of the spring can be coupled to the piston to form a sliding seal with an inner wall of the syringe, and the second portion of the spring can move longitudinally within the syringe without sealing contact.