1. A reflector apparatus for reflecting heat back downward upon a surface of heated asphalt, said apparatus comprising:
a mobile trailer comprising a frame and having a front, a rear, a bottom, a top, a front trailer hitch coupler mounted to said front, and a rear trailer hitch coupler mounted to said rear;
at least one heat reflector attached to said bottom of said mobile trailer, wherein said heat reflector is manufactured of a heat reflective material, is dimensioned to cover a substantial portion of said bottom of said mobile trailer, and comprises a body and a pair of wings extending downward from said body and terminating at a pair of terminal edges;
wherein said at least one heat reflector is attached to said bottom of said mobile such that said terminal edges of said wings are disposed proximate to the surface of the heated asphalt and define a plane that is substantially parallel to a plane formed by the surface of the heated asphalt.
2. The reflector apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said heat reflector is manufactured of aluminum and is removably attached to said bottom of said mobile trailer
3. The reflector apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least one means for adjusting a distance between said pair of terminal edges of said heat reflector and the surface of the heated asphalt.
4. The reflector apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mobile trailer further comprises a pair of central wheels attached to said bottom of said mobile trailer and disposed substantially centrally between said front and said rear thereof, a pair of front caster wheels disposed proximate to said front of said mobile trailer and a pair of rear caster wheel disposed proximate to said rear of said mobile trailer.
5. The reflector apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein a weight of said mobile trailer is distributed substantially evenly between a front portion of said trailer in front of said drive wheels and a rear portion of said trailer behind said drive wheels, and
wherein said front caster wheel and said rear caster are dimensioned and disposed such that said front and rear caster wheels do not contact the surface of heated asphalt when the surface of heated asphalt is substantially level.
6. The reflector apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:
an infrared chamber attached to said bottom of said mobile trailer, said infrared chamber having a bottom surface; and
a control box in electrical communication with said infrared chamber, said control box comprising controls for controlling a flow of fuel to said infrared chamber;
wherein said at least one heat reflector is removably attached to said bottom surface of said infrared chamber.
7. The reflector apparatus as claimed in claim 6 further comprising a plurality of C-shaped straps, wherein said plurality of C-shaped shaped straps are dimensioned to extend from the terminal edges of the heat reflector to the top surface of the infrared chamber to removably attach said heat reflector to said bottom surface of said infrared chamber.
8. The reflector apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rear trailer hitch coupler comprises a hitch ball.
9. The reflector apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said wings of said heat reflector are each disposed at an angle of between 30\xb0 and 60\xb0 relative to said body of said heat reflector.
10. A heat reflector kit for mounting on a mobile trailer comprising a frame having a front, a rear, a bottom and a top, to form a reflector apparatus for reflecting heat back downward upon a surface of heated asphalt, wherein said heat reflector kit comprises:
at least one heat reflector for attachment to said bottom of said mobile trailer, wherein said heat reflector is manufactured of a heat reflective material, is dimensioned to cover a substantial portion of said bottom of said mobile trailer, and comprises a body and a pair of wings extending downward from said body and terminating at a pair of terminal edges; and
means for removably attaching said at least one heat reflector to the bottom of the mobile trailer such that said terminal edges of said wings are disposed proximate to the surface of the heated asphalt and define a plane that is substantially parallel to a plane formed by the surface of the heated asphalt.
11. The heat reflector kit as claimed in claim 10 wherein said heat reflector is manufactured of aluminum.
12. The heat reflector kit as claimed in claim 10 further comprising means for adjusting a distance between said pair of terminal edges of said heat reflector and the surface of the heated asphalt.
13. The heat reflector kit as claimed in claim 10 wherein each said wings of said heat reflector are each disposed at an angle of between 30\xb0 and 60\xb0 relative to said body of said heat reflector.
14. A heater system for attachment to a vehicle having a rear trailer hitch to preheat a joining area of a first layer of asphalt prior to joining with said second layer of asphalt, said heater system comprising;
a plurality of heaters wherein each of said heaters comprises:
a mobile heater trailer comprising a frame having a front, a rear, a bottom and a top, a front trailer hitch coupler mounted to said front and a rear trailer hitch coupler mounted to said rear, wherein said front trailer hitch coupler of one heater is dimensioned to mate with said rear trailer hitch coupler of another heater;
an infrared chamber attached to said mobile heater trailer for generating heat;
a source of fuel in communication with said infrared chamber; and
a control box in electrical communication with said infrared chamber, and said source of fuel, said control box comprising controls for controlling the flow of fuel from said source of fuel to said infrared chamber; and
at least one reflector apparatus comprising:
a mobile reflector trailer comprising a frame and having a front, a rear, a bottom, a top, a front trailer hitch coupler mounted to said front, and a rear trailer hitch coupler mounted to said rear, wherein said front trailer hitch coupler of one reflector apparatus is dimensioned to mate with said rear trailer hitch couplers of said heaters;
at least one heat reflector attached to said bottom of said mobile reflector trailer, wherein said heat reflector is manufactured of a heat reflective material, is dimensioned to cover a substantial portion of said bottom of said mobile reflector trailer, and comprises a body and a pair of wings extending downward from said body and terminating at a pair of terminal edges;
wherein said at least one heat reflector is attached to said bottom of said mobile reflector trailer such that said terminal edges of said wings are disposed proximate to the surface of the heated asphalt and define a plane that is substantially parallel to a plane formed by the surface of the heated asphalt;
wherein said front trailer hitch coupler of one of said plurality of heaters is attached to said rear trailer hitch coupler of said vehicle, wherein said front trailer hitch coupler of a first of said at least one reflector apparatus is attached to one of said plurality of heaters and wherein said rear trailer hitch coupler of said first of said at least one reflector apparatus is attached to said front trailer hitch coupler of another of said plurality of heaters.
15. The heater system as claimed in claim 14, wherein said heater system comprises six heaters and two reflector apparatus;
wherein a front trailer hitch coupler of a first heater is attached to said rear trailer hitch coupler of said vehicle, a front trailer hitch coupler of a second heater is attached to a rear trailer hitch coupler of said first heater, a front trailer hitch coupler of a first reflector apparatus is attached to a rear trailer hitch coupler of said second heater, a front trailer hitch coupler of a third heater is attached to a rear trailer hitch coupler of said first reflector apparatus, a front trailer hitch coupler of a fourth heater is attached to a rear trailer hitch coupler of said third heater, a front trailer hitch coupler of a second reflector apparatus is attached to a tear trailer hitch coupler of said fourth heater, a front trailer hitch coupler of a fifth heater is attached to a rear trailer hitch coupler of said second reflector apparatus, and a front trailer hitch coupler of a sixth heater is attached to a rear trailer hitch couplet of said fifth heater.
16. The heater system as claimed in claim 14 wherein at least one of said reflector apparatus comprises a means for adjusting a distance between said pair of terminal edges of said heat reflector of said reflector apparatus and the surface of the heated asphalt.
17. The heater system as claimed in claim 14 wherein a width of said mobile heater trailer is substantially equal to a width of said mobile reflector trailer.
18. The heater system as claimed in claim 14 wherein at least one reflector apparatus comprises an infrared chamber attached to said bottom of said mobile trailer, said infrared chamber having a bottom surface and a control box in electrical communication with said infrared chamber and comprising controls for controlling a flow of fuel to said infrared chamber; and wherein said at least one heat reflector of said reflector apparatus is removably attached to said bottom surface of said infrared chamber.
19. The heater system as claimed in claim 18 further comprising a plurality of C-shaped straps, wherein said plurality of C-shaped shaped straps are dimensioned to extend from the terminal edges of the heat reflector to the top surface of the infrared chamber to removably attach said heat reflector to said bottom surface of said infrared chamber.
20. A method of joining a new layer of asphalt to a previously laid layer of asphalt, said method comprising the steps of:
preheating a surface of a joining area of the previously laid layer of asphalt to a temperature between a predetermined minimum bonding temperature and a predetermined danger temperature, said danger temperature being below an ignition temperature of said asphalt;
placing said new layer of asphalt adjacent to said previously laid layer of asphalt such that a joint is formed between said new layer of asphalt and said previously laid layer of asphalt;
cooling said new layer of asphalt and said joint to a temperature sufficient to allow said new layer of asphalt and said joint to be rolled;
breakdown rolling said new layer of asphalt and said joint;
post-heating said new layer of asphalt and said joint to a temperature between said predetermined minimum bonding temperature and said predetermined danger temperature;
re-cooling said new layer of asphalt and said joint to a temperature sufficient to allow said new layer of asphalt and said joint to be rolled; and
finish rolling said new layer of asphalt and said joint.
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 method of improving performance of a data storage device, the method comprising:
identifying at least one isochronous request among a plurality of requests to be issued to the data storage device;
assigning a completion deadline to the at least one isochronous request; and
communicating at least one of the plurality of requests, the at least one isochronous request, and the completion deadline to the data storage device to allow prioritization, by the data storage device, of the at least one of the plurality of requests and the at least one isochronous request based upon the completion deadline.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring a process of a system of the data storage device to identify the at least one isochronous request.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising sorting the at least one isochronous request in a queue to improve throughput of processing commands by the data storage device.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the at least one isochronous request and assigned completion deadline to the data storage device comprises communicating the at least one isochronous request and assigned completion deadline to a controller of the data storage device.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the at least one isochronous request comprises determining the at least one isochronous request issues from a process which generates isochronous requests.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the at least one isochronous request comprises collecting request information from a software layer which has information which characterizes a request as an isochronous request.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of requests comprises at least one asynchronous request.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the assigning the completion deadline comprises prioritizing the at least one isochronous request and the at least one asynchronous request.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the prioritizing the at least one isochronous request and the at least one asynchronous request comprises sorting a high priority asynchronous request in at least one queue.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning the completion deadline comprises associating the completion deadline based on one of knowledge of process which issues the at least one isochronous request, quantity of concurrent requests at a predetermined time, and type of environment which generates the at least one isochronous request.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the at least one isochronous request and assigned completion deadline comprises transferring the at least one isochronous request and the assigned completion deadline to a device driver of the data storage device.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the issuing the isochronous request comprises issuing the isochronous request if the second deadline value is less than a threshold value equal to a sum of a seek time, a rotational delay time, a first transmission time, and a product of a second transmission time and a number of outstanding requests.
13. An apparatus improve performance of a data storage device, comprising:
a request identifier to identify an isochronous request in a plurality of requests to be issued to the data storage device;
a logic module to assign a completion deadline to the isochronous request; and
a communication module to communicate the isochronous request, the completion deadline, and at least one of the plurality of requests to a controller of the data storage device to allow the data storage device to prioritize the at least one of the plurality of requests and the at least one isochronous request based upon the completion deadline.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a monitor module to monitor a system process operating in the system and determine if the system process issues isochronous requests.
15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising random access memory, wherein the data storage device comprises one of a serial hard disk drive, a parallel hard disk drive, an optical storage drive, a digital versatile disc drive, and a flash memory drive.
16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the data storage device comprises logic to compare the isochronous request with pending requests in at least one drive queue and sort the requests based on at least one of geometry of the data storage device, completion deadline, and priority information for asynchronous requests.
17. A machine-accessible medium containing instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
identifying at least one isochronous request among a plurality of requests to be issued to a data storage device;
assigning a completion deadline to the at least one isochronous request; and
communicating the at least one isochronous request, the completion deadline, and at least one of the plurality of requests to the data storage device to allow prioritization, by the data storage device, of the at least one of the plurality of requests and the at least one isochronous request based upon the completion deadline.
18. The machine-accessible medium of claim 17, further comprising monitoring a process of a system via a background application to identify the at least one isochronous request.
19. The machine-accessible medium of claim 17, further comprising sorting the at least one isochronous request and a high priority asynchronous request in at least one queue to improve throughput of processing the at least one isochronous request and the asynchronous request by the data storage device.