Abstract:
A high-speed, high-resolution testing circuit for both analog and digital circuit packs is described. The testing circuit, which employs data compression techniques, comprises a shift register (22) having an overall length selectively variable under program control, and an arrangement (18) for combining incoming data signals with feedback signals out of predetermined stages of the shift register. The positions of the feedback taps of the variable length shift register are selectively variable under program control (24,26).
Abstract:
A laser beam (88) is raster scanned over the surface of a patterned semiconductor wafer (66) at an angle normal thereto. A plurality of detectors, radially spaced from the wafer (66) and substantially coplanar therewith detect light scattered from contaminating particulate thereon. The detected light is converted into a video signal that is forwarded to a video monitor (84) to display the particulate material while eliminating the patterned surface background.
Abstract:
A coating material is applied to drawn lightguide fiber in a manner which substantially prevents the inclusion of bubbles and which causes the fiber to be disposed substantially concentrically within the coating layer. The lightguide fiber is advanced through a continuum of coating material, which extends from a free surface of a reservoir and through two dies that are arranged in tandem, at a velocity which causes air to be entrained in the coating material. A pressure gradient is established between portions of the first die adjacent to its exit orifice. A first one of the dies communicates with the reservoir and the second die and further communicates at the interface of the dies with a pressurized supply of the coating material. The pressurized flow sufficiently enhances the pressure gradient in the first die and establishes sufficient volumetric flow of coating material upwardly through the first die to cause any bubbles in the coating material on the advancing fiber to be removed by recirculating streamlines and to be moved upwardly into the reservoir. The bubbles are substantially immediately removed from the reservoir by providing fluid exit channels through which bubble entrained coating material exits the reservoir in the vicinity adjacent the first die. Not only is the coating in the fiber substantially free of entrained air as it leaves the second die, but coalescing bubbles do not misalign the fiber and the fiber is disposed concentrically within the coating because of a precentering effect of the first die and enhanced self-centering caused by pressure in the chamber.
Abstract:
A cable pulling eye assembly comprises a spike (16) having an auger thread (18), a coaxially mounted shell (36) and an eye (31) with a threaded opening (34), which is mounted on a threaded rear section of the spike. The eye is rotated by a power tool to advance the auger into a bundle of wires (11) of a sheathed cable (10). The shell is subsequently crimped to further force the wires into the flute defined by the auger thread. A pulling steel cable is attached to the eye to draw the cable between telephone poles or through an underground conduit.
Abstract:
Plate-like carriers (51) having box-receiving slots (54) formed along one edge and rack teeth (58) formed along an opposite edge are fed from a stack (52) and along a trackway (53) where a pair of cog devices (59 and 61) are cyclically operated on fast and slow cycles to engage the rack teeth and move the carriers along the trackway. Boxes (30) are fed into each advanced carrier slot, whereafter the boxes are moved to an encapsulant dispensing station (63). During each slow cycle of operation of the cog devices a metered charge of encapsulant is dispensed into each pair of adjacent boxes. At a subsequent station (67) a strip (68) of lead-attached capacitors (36) are loaded into all the boxes in a carrier. The assembled boxes and capacitors are stripped from the carrier and moved through an encapsulant curing oven (80).
Abstract:
A solder mask (62) of special construction is mounted on each of a plurality of crystal filters (10) having continuous seams (16) defined by peripheral edges (20) of filter metal covers (14) and peripheral portions (18) of filter metal headers (12). The crystal filter-solder mask assemblies (10,62) then are passed over a solder wave (24) to solder the continuous seams (16) of the crystal filters (10) simultaneously. The crystal filters (10) are suspended on magnetic carriers (104) of an endless conveyor (106) as the filters pass over the solder wave. During the wave-soldering operation the solder masks (62) preclude solder from access to various critical areas of the crystal filters (10).
Abstract:
A sheet stock transfer apparatus (10) is adapted to successively extract the lowermost sheet (22) of a stack thereof, while initially releasably confined within an elevated magazine (23) at a dispensing station, and to thereafter invert each such extracted sheet while being transferred to, and subsequently precisely positioned within, an underlying workholder (26) of an associated indexably advanced turret (27), for example, at a receiving station. This sequence of operations is accomplished through the use of both a specially constructed rack (11) and a pinion assembly (12). The rack is formed with an intermediate section with teeth and two opposite end sections without teeth. The pinion assembly includes a peripherally segmented and partially rotatable pinion (14), mounted on a hollow shaft (16), and being retractably driven along the rack in response to an indirectly coupled cam-controlled pneumatic cylinder (21), with a pick-up arm (18) fixedly secured at one end to the hollow shaft (16), and a sequentially operated vacuum cup (19) secured to the other (outer) end of the pick-up arm. As the pinion (14) is reciprocally driven along the rack (11), uniquely formed transition notches (11e, 11f) in the rack (11) and selective outer transition corners (14a', 14a" or 14b', 14b") formed in flat portions (14a or 14b) of the pinion (14) cooperate to sequentially effect linear-to compound linear and rotational-to linear displacement of the pinion, together with the pick-up arm (18) and vacuum cup (19). As thus constructed, the apparatus is particularly adapted to rapidly and reliably extract, transfer and position sheets that are very thin and/or of relatively fragile material.
Abstract:
In the manufacture of electrical coils (10), particularly large transformer coils, an insulated wire (11) is wound on a rotatable winding arbor (12) so as to form a succession of turns of the insulated wire. Particularly when large gauge enamelled copper wire is wound, the insulation (14) has a tendency to crack or chip during the winding process, causing shorted turns and producing a defective coil. This application relates to systems for testing such a coil to detect a short as it is wound so as to permit interruption of the winding process and repair of the insulation fault on the spot. The test equipment includes a pair of test windings (41, 42) positioned at opposite ends of the winding arbor (12) and magnetically coupled by flux paths (50, 51) to each other and to the coil being wound so that an A.C. input signal (V.sub.1) applied to the first winding (41) induces an A.C. output signal (V.sub.2) in the second winding (42) that undergoes a characteristic change, such as a voltage drop, when a short occurs. A detecting circuit (60) senses such a change in the output signal and provides an output (63) when a shorted turn is detected. Preferably, a parallel shunt return path (70) is provided between the arbor and the machine frame so as to increase the sensitivity of the detector circuit.
Abstract:
A test circuit (15 or 65), comprised of a plurality of parallel-connected circuit modules (15.sub.o-n or 65.sub.o-n), in response to both control signals from an associated commercially available automated test set (12), and output data from a test set-accessed read/write memory (14) under test, continuously senses for the presence of valid "one" or "zero" outputs on the data bit lines of the memory throughout a test set-established time window test period. When the memory output from a given data bit line, as applied to only an associated one of the circuit modules, is determined, as normally expected, to be continuously valid during each successive time window test period, a "pass" RESULT signal is generated by that circuit module and continuously applied to the test circuit (12) for flagging at any time between termination of the time window and the end of a given test set-established memory read cycle. Conversely, should the output on any memory data bit line be determined to be invalid (i.e., relative to predetermined threshold voltage limits) at any time during a time window test period, the particular one of the circuit modules (15.sub.o-n or 65.sub.o-n) receiving that invalid data generates a "fail" RESULT signal that is likewise continuously applied to the test set (12) during the same time interval as for a "pass" RESULT signal.
Abstract:
Fabricating thin film RC networks (10) includes forming alpha tantalum capacitor base electrodes (14be) on a substrate (12), while simultaneously forming alpha tantalum anodization bus bars (14p and 14s) on the substrate. A portion of each base electrode (14be) then is anodized to form a capacitor dielectric (20) in a single anodizing step. A tantalum nitride resistor film (24) and electrically conductive films (26 and 28) then are deposited on the resultant assembly. Next, portions of the electrically conductive films are removed to define portions of capacitor counterelectrodes (22), to expose sections of the tantalum nitride resistor film (24) destined for use as resistors (24r). and to define conductor networks (30). Portions of the tantalum nitride resistor film (24) then are removed to define capacitor counterelectrode portions (24ce) and the resistors (24r), while simultaneously removing the anodization bus bars (14p and 14s). The resultant networks (10) then are thermally stabilized.