Author: claimsbot

1-20. (canceled)
21. A mine road maintenance management system, comprising:
a control system configured to receive data related to the mine road, the data including one of performance data associated with a vehicle traveling on the mine road, and road condition data associated with quality of the mine road, the control system including;
a storage device configured to store the data; and
a display device configured to display a graphical user interface with a first window, the first window configured to include;
a graph of the data;
a map of the mine road including a selected road, the graph displaying a variation of the data along the selected road; and
a cursor configured to move over the graph and a pointer configured to identify an area of the selected road corresponding to a current location of the cursor on the graph.
22. The mine road maintenance management system of claim 21, wherein the first window includes one or more links configured to facilitate access of a second window and a third window, the second window being configured to input the data, and the third window being configured to input the map.
23. The mine road maintenance management system of claim 22, wherein the map is input by selecting a map from a plurality of maps stored in memory.
24. The mine road maintenance management system of claim 22, wherein data is input by selecting a data file from a display of a list of multiple data files.
25. The mine road maintenance management system of claim 21, wherein the first window is configured to graph the data as a function of time and as a function of distance.
26. The mine road maintenance management system of claim 21, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to display an image of a road defect at a selected location on the map.
27. The mine road maintenance management system of claim 21, wherein the selected road is selected by a user choosing multiple waypoints on the map.
28. The mine road maintenance management system of claim 21, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to enable analysis of payload weight of vehicles traveling on the selected road.
29. A maintenance management system for a mine road network, comprising:
a communication device configured to receive data related to a surface condition of one or more roads of the mine road network;
a storage device configured to store one or more data files including at least the received data; and
a display device adapted to display a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface being configured to display a map of the mine road network, facilitate selection a data file of the one or more data files, and enable planning of a repair of one or more roads of the mine road network.
30. The maintenance management system of claim 29, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to enable the selection of a selected road of the one or more roads of the mine road network.
31. The maintenance management system of claim 30, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to enable the selection of the selected road by clicking on an image of the selected road on the map of the mine road network.
32. The maintenance management system of claim 30, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to display an image of a road surface condition associated with a selected point on the selected road.
33. The maintenance management system of claim 29, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to display a recommended list of road repairs based on at least a current surface condition of the one or more roads of the mine road network and information related to a usage of the one or more roads.
34. The maintenance management system of claim 29, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to schedule the repair of at least one road of the one or more roads.
35. The maintenance management system of claim 29, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to calculate performance metrics associated with the maintenance management system, the performance metrics being indicative of an effectiveness of the maintenance management system.
36. A maintenance management system for a mine road network, comprising:
a storage device configured to store data related to a surface condition of one or more roads of the mine road network; and
a display device adapted to display a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface being configured to:
enable the selection of a map of the mine road network from a plurality of available maps;
display the selected map;
select a selected road from the displayed map;
analyze the data associated with the selected road; and
enable planning of a repair of one or more roads of the selected mine road network.
37. The maintenance management system of claim 36, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to display a recommended list of road repairs based on at least a current surface condition of the one or more roads of the mine road network and information related to a usage of the one or more roads.
38. The maintenance management system of claim 36, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to enable analysis of payload weights of vehicles traveling on the one or more roads of the mine road network.
39. The maintenance management system of claim 38, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to configured to display a graph indicating the number of times the payload weight exceeded a target payload weight.
40. The maintenance management system of claim 36, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to display an image of a road defect at a selected location of the selected road.

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 dry sprinkler comprising:
an outer structural assembly having a proximal inlet, a distal outlet, and an internal passageway extending between the inlet and the outlet defining a longitudinal axis of the sprinkler, the outer structural assembly including:
an inlet fitting including a proximal head portion and a distal body portion, the head portion having an external thread defining a nominal external thread diameter, the body portion including an external groove defining a nominal groove diameter being greater than the nominal external thread diameter, the external thread and groove providing the sprinkler with alternate threaded and grooved coupling arrangements for connection to a fluid supply pipe, the inlet fitting having an internal surface defining a sealing surface of the dry sprinkler;
an outlet frame including a deflector axially spaced at a fixed distance from the outlet; and
a casing tube disposed between the inlet fitting and an outlet frame;

a seal assembly disposed along the passageway for contacting the sealing surface; and
a thermal trigger for supporting the seal assembly against the sealing surface in an unactuated state of the dry sprinkler.
2. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the inlet fitting has an outer surface portion that forms a transition between the proximal head portion and the distal body portion so as to define a transition portion between the external thread and the external groove.
3. The dry sprinkler of claim 2, wherein the transition defines a step transition between the external thread and the external groove, the step transition defining a surface that extends substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the axis.
4. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the external groove defines a nominal two inch diameter and the casing tube defines a nominal 1\xbd inch.
5. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the external groove defines a nominal two inch diameter and the external thread defines a nominal thread of any one of a nominal \xbe inch, 1 inch, and 1\xbc inch NPT.
6. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the seal assembly is supported by an internal assembly having a fluid tube, a guide tube and trigger seat supported by the thermal trigger in the unactuated state of the sprinkler, the fluid tube including a plurality of apertures and a plurality of projections.
7. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein sprinkler defines a sprinkler axial length ranging from about 9 inches to about 48 inches.
8. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the distal body portion defines an external diameter of about two inches, and the sealing surface defines an internal opening diameter of about 1\xbc inch.
9. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the external thread extends proximally of the sealing surface.
10. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the external thread extends distally of the sealing surface.
11. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the distal body portion of the inlet fitting includes an outer surface distal of the external groove that tapers toward the casing tube.
12. The dry sprinkler of claim 1, wherein the casing tube defines a nominal 1\xbd inch.
13. A system for connecting a dry sprinkler to a fluid supply pipe, the system comprising:
a fluid supply pipe fitting; and
a dry sprinkler having an inlet fitting, an outlet frame and a casing tube between the inlet fitting, and the outlet frame to define a passageway of the sprinkler, the inlet fitting including a proximal head portion and a distal body portion with a transition portion between the proximal head and distal body portions, the head portion having an external thread, the body portion including an external groove, the sprinkler including an internal assembly to seal the passageway at the inlet fitting, and
one of a threaded-type coupling connection and a grooved-type coupling connection between the inlet fitting and the fluid supply pipe fitting,
wherein in the threaded-type coupling connection, the fluid supply pipe fitting is an internally threaded fitting, the external threads being threaded into the threaded pipe fitting; and
wherein in the grooved-type coupling connection, the fluid supply pipe fitting is a grooved fitting coupled to the external groove of the inlet fitting with the external thread being substantially disposed within the grooved fitting.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the external thread defines a nominal external thread diameter and the external groove defines a nominal groove diameter being greater than the external thread diameter.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein the distal body portion of the inlet fitting includes an outer surface distal of the external groove that tapers toward the casing tube.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein the casing tube defines a nominal diameter of 1\xbd inch.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein the transition portion defines an external diameter of about two inches, and the sealing surface defines an internal opening diameter of about 1\xbc inch.
18.-20. (canceled)
21. A method of coupling a dry sprinkler to a fluid supply pipe, the dry sprinkler having an inlet fitting, an outlet frame and a casing tube between the inlet fitting, and an internal assembly to seal the passageway at the inlet fitting, the method comprising:
disposing the inlet fitting of the dry sprinkler along the fluid supply pipe, the inlet fitting having a proximal head portion and a distal body portion, the body portion including a transition portion between the proximal head and distal body portions, the head portion having an external thread, the body portion including an external groove;
forming one of a threaded-type coupling connection and a grooved-type coupling connection between the inlet fitting and a fluid supply pipe fitting,
wherein forming the threaded-type coupling connection includes threading the external threads to an internally threaded pipe fitting; and
wherein forming the grooved-type coupling connection includes coupling the external groove of the inlet fitting to a grooved fluid supply pipe fitting and disposing the external thread within the grooved fluid supply pipe fitting.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein forming the threaded connection includes engaging the transition portion with the threaded pipe fitting.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein forming the grooved-type connection includes engaging the transition portion with the grooved pipe fitting.

1. A system for detecting and transmitting test data from a housing (10) comprising a pressure chamber (11) that is filled with a high-pressure fluid and is homogeneously pressurized via printed conductors (21) connected to a sensing element (23) situated in the pressure chamber (11) and are guided out of the housing (10), a circuit board (12), both faces of which being subjected to the pressure prevailing in the pressure chamber (11) and at least one portion (30) of which extending out of the housing (10), being situated inside the pressure chamber (11) as a support for the strip conductors (21) and the housing (10) that encloses the pressure chamber (11) being separated in the plane of the circuit board and the faces of the housing halves (13, 14) clamping the circuit board (12) between them in such a way that radial forces exerted within the circuit board are absorbed when pressure is applied.
2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the housing halves (13, 14) hold the circuit board (12) by a frictional connection.
3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the housing halves (13, 14) hold the circuit board (12) by a positive connection.
4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the circuit board (12) is made from a hard plastic.
5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein seals (18) are situated between faces (15) of the housing halves (13, 14) which clamp the circuit board (12) and the surfaces of the circuit board (12).
6. The use of a system designed as recited in claim 1 for detecting the longitudinal movements of a valve piston movable in hydraulic valves.
7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein one housing half (14) encompasses opposite facing other housing half (13) externally via an axially projecting flange (16), an external edge area of the circuit board (12) being in contact with an inside of the flange (16).
8. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the flange (16) has a cutout (17) extending across a limited circumferential portion, which is penetrated by a projection (30) extending outwardly from the circuit board (12).
9. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one sensor that detects a change of length of the circuit board (12) is situated on the circuit board (12).
10. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein the sensor is a strain gauge.
11. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein a sensor recording a change of the material thickness of the circuit board (12) is situated in the circuit board (12).
12. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the circuit board (12) has a recess (19) used to equalize pressure between sub-chambers (11a, 11b) of the pressure chamber (11) located on both sides of the circuit board.
13. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the circuit board is designed to accommodate a position measuring system and a position pickup coil (23) being situated in the recess (19) and connected to the printed conductors (21) located on the circuit board (12), the position pickup coil (23) lying in the fluid located in the pressure chamber (11) surrounding a position pickup core (25) which is axially movable through the recess (19) of the circuit board (12) and the position pickup coil (25).
14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein a wire winding (32) of the position pickup coil (23) which is located on a coil frame (31) is spray coated with a suitable material.
15. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the spray coating (35) of the wire winding (32) includes connections of the wire winding (32) to printed conductors (21) extending in the circuit board (12).
16. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the material of the spray coating (35) matches the material of the circuit board (12).

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 exhaust gas purification apparatus for an internal combustion engine, including:
a selective reduction type NOx catalyst that is provided in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine, and selectively reduces NOx when a reducing agent is supplied thereto;
a supply unit that supplies the reducing agent to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst from an upstream side of the selective reduction type NOx catalyst; and
a temperature acquisition unit that obtains a temperature of the selective reduction type NOx catalyst,
the exhaust gas purification apparatus comprising:
an upper limit value calculation unit that calculates, on the basis of the temperature of the selective reduction type NOx catalyst obtained by the temperature acquisition unit, an upper limit value of a reducing agent amount that is adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst when the reducing agent is supplied continuously by the supply unit;
a variation amount calculation unit that calculates a variation amount over a predetermined time in the reducing agent amount adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst from the upper limit value calculated by the upper limit value calculation unit and the reducing agent amount adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst; and
an estimation unit that estimates a reducing agent amount adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst following the elapse of the predetermined time by adding the variation amount calculated by the variation amount calculation unit to the reducing agent amount adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst.
2. The exhaust gas purification apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein the variation amount calculation unit calculates the variation amount from a difference between the upper limit value calculated by the upper limit value calculation unit and the reducing agent amount adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst, and a predetermined transition of the reducing agent amount that is adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst when the reducing agent is supplied continuously from the supply unit.
3. The exhaust gas purification apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein the upper limit value calculation unit calculates a reducing agent surplus generated in the selective reduction type NOx catalyst by subtracting a reducing agent amount consumed by the selective reduction type NOx catalyst while reducing the NOx from a reducing agent amount supplied by the supply unit, and
the upper limit value calculation unit calculates the upper limit value of the reducing agent amount that is adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst when the reducing agent is supplied continuously by the supply unit, on the basis of the reducing agent surplus generated in the selective reduction type NOx catalyst and the temperature obtained by the temperature acquisition unit.
4. The exhaust gas purification apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines that the reducing agent is about to flow out of the selective reduction type NOx catalyst when a difference between the upper limit value calculated by the upper limit value calculation unit and the reducing agent amount adsorbed to the selective reduction type NOx catalyst, estimated by the estimation unit, is smaller than a threshold.