1. A turbine, comprising:
a casing having a plurality of arc-shaped segments to together form a substantially circular cross-section shape of the casing, the casing having a front rim to define a front opening and a rear rim to define a rear opening, and each plurality of arc-shaped segments extending in a front-to-rear direction between the front rim and the rear rim;
an affixing protrusion extending radially from an outer surface of the casing at each junction of the plurality of arc-shaped segments to affix adjacent arc-shaped segments to each other; and
an annular region on the outer surface of the casing adjacent the front rim of the casing and having no affixing protrusion, the annular region having a thickness from an inside surface to the outside surface less than a thickness of the casing at the affixing protrusion from the inside surface to the outside surface, wherein the affixing protrusion extends in the front-to-rear direction on the outer surface of the casing from the rear rim of the casing to the annular region.
2. The turbine of claim 1, wherein the affixing protrusion extends contiguously from the rear rim of the casing to the annular region.
3. The turbine of claim 1, wherein each affixing protrusion includes flanges radially extending from adjacent arc-shaped segments from among the plurality of arc-shaped segments.
4. The turbine of claim 3, wherein the flanges of adjacent affixing protrusions are connected by at least one of bolts, a clamp, and a weld.
5. The turbine of claim 1, further comprising:
a rotor comprising a plurality of annular stages of buckets,
wherein the annular region of the casing corresponds to a location of at least one of the annular stages of buckets.
6. The turbine of claim 5, wherein the annular region of the casing has a width greater than a width of bucket tips of the at least one annular stage of buckets.
7. The turbine of claim 6, wherein the annular region of the casing extends at least from the front rim of the casing to a rear side of the at least one annular stage of buckets.
8. The turbine of claim 1, wherein the casing comprises:
an inner shell including the plurality of arc-shaped segments; and
an outer shell surrounding the inner shell to provide an air-tight seal around the inner shell.
9. A turbine casing, comprising:
a plurality of arc-shaped segments, each arc-shaped segment having: a front rim at a front end, a rear rim at a rear end, and a flange at each side end to connect to a flange of an adjacent arc-shaped segment from among the plurality of arc-shaped segments, the flange extending outward from an outer surface of the arc-shaped segment and extending along the outer surface in a front-to-rear direction, a portion of the outer surface located adjacent to the front rim that is co-linear with the flange in the front-to-rear direction and does not include the flange, the portion of the arc-shaped segment that does not include the flange having a width from an inner surface of the arc-shaped segment to the outer surface of the arc-shaped segment that is less than a width of the arc-shaped segment at the flange from the inner surface of the arc-shaped segment to the outer surface of the arc-shaped segment, wherein the flange extends from the rear rim to the portion of the outer surface that does not include the flange.
10. The turbine casing of claim 9, wherein each arc-shaped segment comprises the flange extending contiguously from the rear rim to the portion of the outer surface that does not include the flange.
11. The turbine casing of claim 9, wherein the portion of each of the plurality of arc-shaped segments that does not include the respective flange has a predetermined width.
12. The turbine casing of claim 9, wherein each arc-shaped segment comprises the front rim having a diameter smaller than the rear rim.
13. The turbine casing of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of arc-shaped segments is curved between the front rim and the rear rim.
14. The turbine casing of claim 9, wherein each flange is connected to an adjacent flange with at least one of bolts, a clamp, and a weld.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A docking station for a portable electronic device, the docking station comprising:
a housing;
a vibration sensor configured to generate a vibration signal in response to vibration of a surface on which the docking station is disposed; and
a processor disposed within the housing and operatively coupled to the vibration sensor, the processor configured to:
analyze the vibration signal and identify one or more predefined user impact commands; and
upon identifying a user impact command, transmit an activation signal to the portable electronic device.
2. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein a first predefined user impact command comprises two impacts within a defined time window and corresponds to a first activation signal.
3. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein a second predefined user impact command comprises three impacts within a defined time window and corresponds to a second activation signal.
4. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein a user impact command is recorded and learned such that subsequent similar impact commands may be identified.
5. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein the user impact command is recorded after a user initiates a training mode on the portable electronic device.
6. The docking station according to claim 5 wherein the portable electronic device notifies the user when the training mode is operative and has successfully captured a user impact command.
7. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein the activation signal instructs the portable electronic device to snooze an alarm.
8. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein the activation signal instructs the portable electronic device to answer an incoming phone call.
9. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein the activation signal is wirelessly transmitted to the portable electronic device.
10. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein the portable electronic device is in a sleep mode until the activation signal is transmitted.
11. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein an activation event occurs before one or more predefined user impact commands are identified.
12. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein the activation signal is a command comprising a plurality of fieldsbits using a language the portable electronic device understands.
13. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein the predefined user impact command comprises an impact greater than a threshold value.
14. The docking station according to claim 1 wherein the predefined user impact command comprises a sequence of a plurality of user impact commands.
15. A portable electronic device comprising:
a housing;
a vibration sensor configured to generate a vibration signal in response to vibration of a surface on which the portable electronic device is disposed; and
a processor disposed within the housing and operatively coupled to the vibration sensor, the processor configured to:
analyze the vibration signal and identify one or more predefined user impact commands; and
upon identifying a user impact command, performing a function on the portable electronic device.
16. The portable electronic device according to claim 15 wherein a first predefined user impact command is associated with a first geographic location.
17. The portable electronic device according to claim 15 wherein a second predefined user impact command is associated with a second geographic location.
18. The portable electronic device according to claim 15 wherein a first predefined user impact command comprises two impacts within a defined time window and corresponds to a first activation signal.
19. A docking station for an electronic device, the docking station comprising:
a housing;
a contactless sensor configured to generate a signal corresponding to a contactless gesture; and
a processor disposed within the housing and operatively coupled to the contactless sensor, the processor configured to:
analyze the signal and detect an attribute value of the contactless gesture; and
upon identifying the attribute value, transmitting a message to the electronic device based on an operating state of the electronic device and the attribute value.
20. The docking station of claim 19 wherein the electronic device notifies the docking station of the operating state of the electronic device.