1-20. (canceled)
21. A wireless two-way RF data communication device that forms a node of a data communications network, the device comprising:
(a) a memory having stored therein an unique identifier of the wireless two-way RF data communication device that uniquely identifies the wireless two-way RF data communication device within the data communications network;
(b) a receiver configured to receive radio frequency transmissions;
(b) a transmitter configured to make radio frequency transmissions; and
(c) electronic components arranged and configured such that the wireless two-way RF data communication device communicates with other nodes of the data communications network in communicating messages from originating nodes to destination nodes, and such that each message that is communicated by the wireless two-way RF data communication device includes the unique identification of the wireless two-way RF data communication device.
22. The wireless two-way RF data communication device of claim 21, wherein the electronic components of the wireless two-way RF data communication device are further arranged and configured such that each message that is communicated by the wireless two-way RF data communication device includes the unique identification of each intermediate node by which the message has been communicated in the data communications network.
23. The wireless two-way RF data communication device of claim 21, wherein the electronic components of the wireless two-way RF data communication device are further arranged and configured such that each message that is communicated by the wireless two-way RF data communication device includes the unique identification of the originating node for the message in the data communications network.
24. A data communications network, comprising:
(a) a plurality of wireless two-way radio frequency (RF) data communication devices, each wireless two-way RF data communication device forming a node of the data communications network and each wireless two-way RF data communication device including a memory having stored therein an unique identifier of the wireless two-way RF data communication device;
(b) wherein each wireless two-way RF data communication device comprises,
(i) a receiver configured to receive radio frequency transmissions,
(ii) a transmitter configured to make radio frequency transmissions, and
(iii) electronic components arranged and configured such that the wireless two-way RF data communication device communicates with other wireless two-way RF data communication devices of the data communications network in communicating messages from originating nodes to destination nodes, and such that each message that is communicated by the wireless two-way RF data communication device includes the unique identification of the originating node for the message and the unique identification of each intermediate node by which the message has been communicated in the data communications network, whereby the pathway by which each message is communicated in the data communications network is included with the message.
25. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein the identification of an intermediate node of the pathway by which the electronic message has been communicated is added to the pathway information by an intermediate node.
26. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein each node comprises a wireless radio-frequency data communication device having a transmitter and a receiver that collectively receive and transmit information wirelessly.
27. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein each wireless two-way RF data communication device comprises a standards-based data packet radio component that includes both said receiver and said transmitter of the respective wireless two-way RF data communication device.
28. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein the information is wirelessly communicated in data packets.
29. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein the data communication device includes an interface for communicating with a sensor for receiving sensor-acquired data.
30. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein the data communication device is attached to an asset for monitoring and tracking of the asset.
31. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein the data communication device is permanently affixed to a structure for monitoring andor tracking assets that come within a proximity thereto.
32. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein the communication includes a message identification that is unique to the message being communicated within the data communications network.
33. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein each communication of a message within the data communications network includes a predetermined pathway by which the message is to be communicated.
34. The data communications network of claim 24, wherein each communication of a message within the data communications network includes, for each communications link between nodes identified in the pathway by which the message has been communicated, a link quality.
35. In a data network comprising a plurality of wireless two-way radio frequency (RF) data communication devices, each wireless two-way RF data communication device forming a node of the data communications network, a method of tracking a pathway by which a message is communicated within a data communications network, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) maintaining a unique identification of each of the plurality of wireless two-way RF data communication devices that form a node of the data communications network; and
(b) for each wireless two-way RF data communication device that communicates a message in the data communications network, including with the message the unique identification of the wireless two-way RF data communication device such that the pathway by which the message is sent from an originating node to a destination node is communicated to the destination node upon delivery of the message to the destination node.
36. The method of claim 35, wherein each wireless two-way RF data communication device that comprises an intermediate node with respect to communicating a message from an originating node to a destination node in the data communications network includes with the message its unique identification when communicating the message to the next subsequent node.
37. The method of claim 35, wherein each node in the data communications network that receives a communication of a message from a wireless two-way RF data communication device includes, with the message, the unique identification of the wireless two-way RF data communication device from which the message is communicated.
38. The method of claim 36, further comprising the step of, for each node that receives a communicated message from a wireless two-way RF data communication device in the data communications network, including with the unique identification of the two-way RF data communication device a link quality of the communications link established between with the wireless two-way RF data communication device and the node receiving the communicated message such that a link quality for each communication link in the pathway by which the message is sent from an originating node to a destination node is communicated to the destination node upon delivery of the message to the destination node.
39. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of calculating an overall link quality for the pathway by which the message is sent from an originating node to a destination node.
40. The method of claim 39, further comprising the steps of identifying known pathways to a destination node in the data communications network, comparing overall link qualities and number of hops of the identified known pathways, and sending a message to the destination node by one of the identified known pathways as a function of the comparison of the overall link qualities and number of hops of the identified known pathways.
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. An extrusion apparatus adapted for manufacturing a continuous strip of profiled product, comprising:
a screw that is set in rotation in a fixed barrel having a feed inlet for elastomer mixture, and an outlet provided with an extrusion nozzle which discharges into a nip formed between a first rotary roll and a second rotary roll that are made to rotate in opposite directions during operation of the apparatus,
first means for rotating the first rotary roll and first control means that are able to synchronize a speed of rotation (\u03a9 r1) of the first rotary roll and a speed of rotation (\u03a9 vis) of the screw, and
second means for rotating the second rotary roll that are able to rotate the latter at a speed of rotation (\u03a9 r2) that is different from the speed of rotation of the first rotary roll (\u03a9 r1),
wherein said first control means are connected to a means for driving the screw in order to regulate the speed of rotation of the screw depending on the width of the strip of profiled product, and
wherein the apparatus comprises a second control means connected to said second means for rotating in order to regulate the speed of rotation (\u03a9 r2) of the second rotary roll depending on the thickness of said strip.
2. The extrusion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the speed of rotation of the second roll is variable independently of the speed of rotation of the first roll.
3. The extrusion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second control means comprise a sensor for measuring the thickness of the strip of profiled product and a comparator for comparing the measured value of the thickness (e) with a setpoint value of the thickness (e setpoint), and wherein the speed of rotation (\u03a9 r2) of the second roll is controlled depending on the result of the comparison.
4. The extrusion apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the speed of rotation (\u03a9 r2) of the second roll is directly linked to the speed of rotation (\u03a9 r1) of the first roll by a coefficient of proportionality K sr, such that \u03a9 r2=K sr*\u03a9 r1.
5. The extrusion apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor for measuring the width of the strip of profiled product and means for comparing the measured value of the width with a setpoint value of the width (I setpoint), and wherein the speed of rotation (\u03a9 vis) of the screw is controlled depending on the result of the comparison.
6. The extrusion apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the speed of rotation of the screw is directly linked to the speed of rotation (\u03a9 r1) of the first roll by a coefficient of proportionality K svis, such that \u03a9 vis=K svis*\u03a9 r1.
7. An extrusion method adapted for manufacturing a continuous strip of profiled product with the aid of an extrusion apparatus comprising:
rotating a screw in a fixed barrel having a feed inlet for elastomer mixture and an outlet provided with an extrusion nozzle; discharging elastomer mixture from the extrusion nozzle into a nip formed between a first rotary roll and a second rotary roll,
rotating the first rotary roll and the second rotary roll in opposite directions by a first means for rotating the first rotary roll and by a second means for rotating the second rotary roll, respectively,
synchronizing the first means for rotating the first rotary roll by a first control means, said first control means being able to synchronize a speed of rotation (\u03a9 r1) of the first roll with a speed of rotation (\u03a9 vis) of the screw, and controlling the second means for rotating the second rotary roll, said second means for rotating the second rotary roll being connected to second control means, wherein the second rotary roll is rotated at a speed of rotation (\u03a9 r2) that is different from the speed of rotation of the first roll (\u03a9 r1), and wherein the speed of rotation of the screw is regulated depending on the width of the strip of profiled product and the speed of rotation (\u03a9 r2) of the second roll is regulated depending on the thickness of said strip.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said second control means comprises a sensor for measuring the thickness of the strip of profiled product and a comparator for comparing the measured value of the thickness (e) with a setpoint value of the thickness (e setpoint), and in that the speed of rotation (\u03a9 r2) of the second roll is controlled depending on the result of the comparison.
9. The method according to claim 7, wherein said apparatus further comprises a sensor for measuring the width of the strip of profiled product and a comparator for comparing the measured value of the width (I) with a setpoint value of the width (I setpoint), and wherein the speed of rotation (\u03a9 vis) of the screw is controlled depending on the result of the comparison.
10. The method according to claim 7, wherein said first roll is made to bear against a receiving surface of a profiled-product strip-laying means in order to serve as a roll for applying said strip.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said laying means is a tire-building drum, and wherein the circumferential speed of the first roll is equal to the circumferential speed of the receiving surface of said tire building drum.