Author: claimsbot

1. A memory cell for a magnetic memory device comprising:
a first hard magnetic layer having a first fixed magnetization vector;
a second hard magnetic layer having a second fixed magnetization vector,
a first soft magnetic layer having a first alterable magnetization vector and disposed adjacent to the first hard magnetic layer, and
a second soft magnetic layer having a second alterable magnetization vector and disposed adjacent to the second hard magnetic layer;
wherein the first and the second soft magnetic layers are magnetostatically coupled antiparallel to each other to form a flux-closed structure.
2. The memory cell as recited in claim 1, wherein the first and the second soft magnetic layers are disposed between the first and the second hard magnetic layers.
3. The memory cell as recited in claim 1, wherein the first and the second hard magnetic layers are disposed between the first and the second soft magnetic layers.
4. The memory cell as recited in claim 1, further comprising an anti-ferromagnetic layer disposed adjacent to one of the first and the second hard magnetic layers to fix the orientation of the magnetization vector therein.
5. The memory cell as recited in claim 4, further comprising an assistant magnetic layer disposed adjacent to one of the first and the second hard magnetic layers, wherein the assistant magnetic layer having a magnetization vector anti-parallelly aligned with one of the first and the second hard magnetic layers to reduce the static magnetic field thereof.
6. The memory cell as recited in claim 1, further comprising an electrically conductive layer disposed between the first and the second soft magnetic layers for passing an electric current therethrough.
7. The memory cell as recited in claim 6, wherein the memory cell is adapted to allow passing of an electric current in a first direction and at least one of the magnetization vectors of the first and the second hard magnet layers is orientated along a second direction oblique to the first direction.
8. A magnetic memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells as claimed in claim 1.
9. The magnetic memory device as recited in claim 8, further comprising an electrically conductive line coupled to the plurality of memory cells.
10. The magnetic memory device as recited in claim 9, further comprising a plurality of gate members each coupled to the plurality of memory cells through the electrically conductive line for controllably supplying an electric current to the respective memory cell through the electrically conductive line.
11. The magnetic memory device as recited in claim 9, wherein the electrically conductive line is provided for performing both a writing operation and a reading operation.
12. A memory cell for a magnetic memory device comprising:
a first hard magnetic layer having a first fixed magnetization vector,
a second hard magnetic layer having a second magnetization vector;
a first soft magnetic layer disposed adjacent to the first hard magnetic layer, the first soft magnetic layer having a first alterable magnetization vector; and
a second soft magnetic layer disposed adjacent to the second hard magnetic layer, the second soft magnetic layer having a second alterable magnetization vector,
wherein the memory cell is adapted to allow passing of an electric current in a first direction and at least one of the first fixed magnetization vector and the second fixed magnetization vector is oriented oblique with respect to the first direction of the electric current.
13. The memory cell as recited in claim 12, further comprising an electrically conductive layer disposed between the first and the second soft magnetic layers for allowing the electric current to pass through.
14. The memory cell as recited in claim 13, wherein the first and the second soft magnetic layers are magnetostatically coupled antiparallel to each other to form a flux-closed structure.
15. A magnetic memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells as recited in claim 12.
16. The magnetic memory device as recited in claim 15, further comprising an electrically conductive line coupled to the plurality of memory cells for passing an electric current therethrough.
17. The magnetic memory device as recited in claim 16, further comprising a plurality of gate members each coupled to the plurality of memory cells through the electrically conductive line for controllably passing an electric current to the respective memory cell through the electrically conductive line.
18. The magnetic memory device as recited in claim 15, wherein the electrically conductive line is provided for performing both a writing operation and a reading operation.
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 base station that has a plurality of antennas and transmits a modulated signal for each independent channel from each antenna of said plurality of antennas, comprising:
a plurality of modulators that form a modulated signal independently for each antenna;
a receiver that receives feedback information from a communication terminal that receives said modulated signal; and
a transmission power controller that controls a transmission power of each transmission channel independently for each channel by controlling outputs of the plurality of modulators independently without combining the outputs, based on said feedback information of a corresponding channel, and modifies, independently for each antenna, the transmission power of the modulated signal transmitted from each antenna.
2. The base station according to claim 1, wherein:
said feedback information includes information indicating channel fluctuation of each modulated signal between each antenna of said base station and each antenna of said communication terminal, and information indicating received field strength of each antenna of said communication terminal; and
said transmission power control section controls transmission power of said each transmission channel independently for each channel based on said channel fluctuation value and said received field strength.
3. The base station according to claim 1, wherein said transmission power control section controls transmission power of each transmission channel independently for each channel by multiplying the modulated signal of said each independent channel by a multiplication coefficient obtained based on said channel fluctuation value of corresponding channel and a multiplication coefficient obtained from an eigenvalue of a channel fluctuation matrix that has a channel fluctuation value of each modulated signal between each antenna of said base station and each antenna of said communication terminal as an element.
4. The base station according to claim 1, wherein:
said modulation section forms an OFDM signal as said modulated signal;
said feedback information includes information generated based on a channel fluctuation value of each channel and each carrier; and
said transmission power control section controls transmission power independently for each channel and each subcarrier based on said feedback information of each channel and each carrier.
5. The base station according to claim 2, wherein:
said modulation section forms an OFDM signal as said modulated signal;
said feedback information includes information generated based on said channel fluctuation and said received field strength of each channel and each carrier; and
said transmission power control section controls transmission power independently for each channel and each subcarrier based on said feedback information and said received field strength of each channel and each carrier.
6. A communication system comprising a base station that has a plurality of antennas and transmits a modulated signal of each independent channel from each antenna and a communication terminal that receives modulated signals transmitted from said plurality of antennas and demodulates each modulated signal, wherein:
said base station comprises:
a modulation section that forms a modulated signal transmitted from each antenna;
a receiving section that receives from said communication terminal feedback information when said each modulated signal is received; and
a transmission power control section that controls transmission power of each transmission channel independently for each channel based on said feedback information of corresponding channel and modifies transmission power of the modulated signal transmitted from each antenna independently for each antenna, and

said communication terminal comprises:
a channel fluctuation estimation section that estimates channel fluctuation values of the received plurality of modulated signals;
an effective reception power calculation section that finds an effective reception power value of said modulated signals based on the estimated channel fluctuation values; and
a demodulation section that performs received signal demodulation processing using the calculated effective reception power value.
7. The communication system according to claim 6, wherein:
said effective reception power calculation section calculates an eigenvalue of a channel fluctuation matrix that has said channel fluctuation values as elements and takes that eigenvalue as an index of said effective reception power value; and
said demodulation section performs received signal demodulation processing using said eigenvalue.
8. The communication system according to claim 6, wherein said effective reception power calculation section finds effective reception power of said modulated signals using received field strength at an antenna in addition to said channel fluctuation modulation value.
9. A communication terminal used in a communication system comprising a base station that transmits different modulated signals from a plurality of antennas and a communication terminal that receives the modulated signals transmitted from said plurality of antennas at a plurality of antennas and demodulates each modulated signal, said communication terminal comprising:
a channel fluctuation estimation section that estimates channel fluctuation values of the received plurality of modulated signals;
an eigenvalue calculation section that calculates an eigenvalue of a channel fluctuation matrix that has said channel fluctuation values as elements; and
a demodulation section that performs received signal demodulation processing using the calculated eigenvalue, wherein:
said eigenvalue calculation section creates combinations of the plurality of antenna received signals, forms a channel fluctuation matrix for each combination, and calculates an eigenvalue of a channel fluctuation matrix of each combination; and
said demodulation section selects a combination of antenna received signals for which minimum power of said eigenvalue is greatest and performs demodulation processing thereon.
10. A communication terminal used in a communication system comprising a base station that transmits different modulated signals from a plurality of antennas and a communication terminal that receives the modulated signals transmitted from said plurality of antennas at a plurality of antennas and demodulates each modulated signal, said communication terminal comprising:
a channel estimation section that estimates channel fluctuation values of the received plurality of modulated signals;
an eigenvalue calculation section that calculates an eigenvalue of a channel fluctuation matrix that has said channel fluctuation values as elements; and
a demodulation section that performs received signal demodulation processing using the calculated eigenvalue, wherein:
said eigenvalue calculation section creates combinations of the plurality of antenna received signals, forms a channel fluctuation matrix for each combination, and calculates an eigenvalue of a channel fluctuation matrix of each combination; and
said demodulation section separates each modulated signal using each combination of antenna received signals and said channel fluctuation matrix corresponding to that combination, and also performs weighting and combining of modulated signals separated in each combination using a channel fluctuation matrix eigenvalue used at the time of separation.
11. A communication terminal used in a communication system comprising a base station that transmits different modulated signals from a plurality of antennas and a communication terminal that receives the modulated signals transmitted from said plurality of antennas and demodulates each modulated signal, said communication terminal comprising:
a channel fluctuation estimation section that estimates channel fluctuation values of the received plurality of modulated signals;
an eigenvalue calculation section that calculates an eigenvalue of a channel fluctuation matrix that has said channel fluctuation values as elements; and
a demodulation section that performs received signal demodulation processing using the calculated eigenvalue,
wherein said demodulation section comprises:
a soft decision value calculation section that calculates a weighted soft decision value using said eigenvalue; and
a decoding section that obtains a digital signal from the weighted soft decision value.
12. A communication terminal used in a communication system comprising a base station that transmits different modulated signals from a plurality of antennas and a communication terminal that receives the modulated signals transmitted from said plurality of antennas at a plurality of antennas and demodulates each modulated signal, said communication terminal comprising:
a channel fluctuation estimation section that estimates channel fluctuation values of the received plurality of modulated signals;
an eigenvalue calculation section that calculates an eigenvalue of a channel fluctuation matrix that has said channel fluctuation values as elements;
a received field strength detection section that detects received field strength of said each antenna received signal; and
a demodulation section that performs received signal demodulation processing using said eigenvalue corrected in accordance with received field strength of each antenna received signal.
13. The communication terminal according to claim 12, wherein said eigenvalue calculation section corrects said channel fluctuation matrix based on received field strength of each antenna received signal so that power of said each channel fluctuation value becomes equal, and calculates said eigenvalue using the corrected channel fluctuation matrix.
14. The communication system according to claim 6, wherein said communication terminal comprises a reception level control section that detects a signal level of said each antenna received signal and makes the signal level of said each antenna received signal equal.
15. A transmitting method that provides a plurality of antennas and transmits a modulated signal for each independent channel from each antenna of the plurality of antennas, comprising:
forming a modulated signal independently for each antenna;
receiving feed back information from a communication terminal that receives said modulated signal; and
controlling a transmission power of each transmission channel independently for each channel by controlling outputs of the plurality of modulators independently without combining the outputs,_based on the received feedback information of a corresponding channel, the transmission power of the modulated signal transmitted from each antenna being modified independently for each antenna.

1. A computer-implemented data processing system for managing information related to a plurality of financial assets associated with housing and mortgage investments of an investor, the data processing system comprising:
a processing unit;
machine-readable storage media storing machine-executable instructions for execution by the processing unit comprising:
user interface logic to receive data regarding the plurality of financial assets including data regarding a plurality of properties associated with the plurality of financial assets and to provide access to the data regarding the plurality of financial assets, the plurality of financial assets including debt assets comprising an investment based on a loan associated with at least one of the plurality of properties, equity assets comprising equity associated with the at least one of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment, and bond assets comprising a revenue bond associated with the at least one of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment,
wherein the user interface logic provides a debt asset user interface to access and view details regarding the debt assets, an equity asset user interface to access and view details regarding the equity assets, and a bond asset user interface to access and view details regarding the bond assets;
trend and analysis logic coupled to the user interface logic to process data regarding the plurality of financial assets and provide risk management results, wherein the risk management results include risks associated with a particular property across the plurality of financial assets;
a database coupled to the trend and analysis logic and the user interface logic to store the data regarding the plurality of financial assets and risk management results;
wherein the database links data for the particular property of the plurality of properties across the plurality of financial assets; and
portfolio analysis logic coupled to the user interface logic to facilitate profitability analysis for a group of at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets, perform analyses utilized in complying with risk based capital requirements, assessing credit metrics for at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets, assess at least one of a counterparties’ financial position and areas where the group of the at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets is sensitive to at least one financial condition, and assist in portfolio repositioning, wherein the portfolio comprises the at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets.
2. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 1, wherein the risk management results include risks associated with a particular type of property.
3. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 1, wherein the risk management results include risks associated with a specific borrower across the plurality of financial assets, the plurality of financial assets including debt assets comprising an investment based on a loan associated with at least one property of the plurality of properties, equity assets comprising equity associated with the at least one property of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment, and bond assets comprising a revenue bond associated with the at least one property of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment.
4. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 1, wherein the risk management results include risks associated with a particular counterparty across the plurality of financial assets, the plurality of financial assets including debt assets comprising an investment based on a loan associated with at least one property of the plurality of properties, equity assets comprising equity associated with the at least one property of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment, and bond assets comprising a revenue bond associated with the at least one property of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment.
5. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 1, wherein the trend and analysis logic is further configured to generates a report based on the risk management results.
6. A computer-implemented data processing system for managing information related to a plurality of financial assets associated with housing and mortgage investments of an investor, the data processing system comprising:
a processing unit;
machine-readable storage media storing machine-executable instructions for execution by the processing unit, comprising:
user interface logic to receive data regarding the plurality of financial assets including data regarding a plurality of properties associated with the plurality of financial assets and to provide access to the data regarding the plurality of financial assets, the plurality of financial assets including debt assets comprising an investment based on a loan associated with at least one of the plurality of properties, equity assets comprising equity associated with the at least one of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment, and bond assets comprising a revenue bond associated with the at least one of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment,
wherein the user interface logic provides a debt asset user interface to access and view details regarding the debt assets, an equity asset user interface to access and view details regarding the equity assets, and a bond asset user interface to access and view details regarding the bond assets;
cash flow management logic coupled to the user interface logic to perform cash flow accounting across the plurality of financial assets;
a database coupled to the cash flow management logic and the user interface logic to store the data regarding the plurality of financial assets;
wherein the database links data for a particular property of the plurality of properties across the plurality of financial assets; and
portfolio analysis logic coupled to the user interface logic to facilitate profitability analysis for a group of at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets, perform analyses utilized in complying with risk based capital requirements, assessing credit metrics for at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets, assess at least one of a counterparties’ financial position and areas where the group of the at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets is sensitive to at least one financial condition, and assist in portfolio repositioning, wherein the portfolio comprises the at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets.
7. A computer-implemented data processing system for managing information related to a plurality of financial assets associated with housing and mortgage investments of an investor, the system comprising:
a processing unit;
machine-readable storage media storing machine-executable instructions for execution by the processing unit comprising:
user interface logic to receive data regarding the plurality of financial assets including data regarding a plurality of properties associated with the plurality of financial assets and to provide access to the data regarding the plurality of financial assets, the plurality of financial assets including debt assets comprising an investment based on a loan associated with at least one of the plurality of properties, equity assets comprising equity associated with the at least one of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment, and bond assets comprising a revenue bond associated with the at least one of the plurality of properties purchased as an investment,
wherein the user interface logic provides a debt asset user interface to access and view details regarding the debt assets, an equity asset user interface to access and view details regarding the equity assets, and a bond asset user interface to access and view details regarding the bond assets;
access and security logic coupled to the user interface logic to provide a registered user with access to a database management logic;
data management logic coupled to the user interface logic and the access and security logic to retrieve and process the data regarding the plurality of financial assets;
a database coupled to the data management logic, the user interface logic and the access and security logic to store the data regarding the plurality of financial assets and to link data for a particular property of the plurality of properties across the plurality of financial assets, the database further storing the received data;
deal management logic coupled to the user interface logic and the access and security logic to assist the registered user in assessing, creating and closing an investment transaction, the deal management logic including,
deal assessment logic to generate an assessment analysis based on at least one report from a trend and analysis logic,
deal creation logic to submit received deal creation data to deal storage logic,
the deal storage logic to transmit the received deal creation data to the database and to modify the received deal creation data into a preferred format prior to transmitting the received deal creation data to the database, the deal storage logic further transmitting a stored received deal creation data to a deal closing logic, and
deal closing logic to allow at least one registered user to complete the investment transaction;
trend and analysis logic coupled to the user interface logic and the access and security logic to generate the at least one report utilizing report logic and wherein the trend and analysis logic includes a risk management logic providing risk management results, wherein the risk management results include risks associated with the particular property across the plurality of financial assets;
portfolio analysis logic coupled to the user interface logic to facilitate profitability analysis for a group of at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets, perform analyses utilized in complying with risk based capital requirements, assessing credit metrics for at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets, assess at least one of a counterparties’ financial position and areas where the group of the at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets is sensitive to at least one financial condition, and assist in portfolio repositioning, wherein the portfolio comprises the at least one of the debt assets, the equity assets, and the bond assets; and
cash flow management logic coupled to the user interface logic and the access and security logic to perform a loan accounting, a payment of investors, a disclosure, a delinquency processing, a billing, a monitoring of payments received from borrowers and a cash flow accounting across multiple asset classes for the registered user,
wherein, for the particular property, the plurality of financial assets include a debt asset comprising an investment based on a loan associated with the particular property, an equity asset comprising equity associated with the particular property purchased as an investment, and a bond asset comprising a revenue bond associated with the particular property purchased as an investment;
wherein the data regarding the plurality of financial assets includes data regarding a debt deal associated with the debt asset, an equity deal associated with the equity asset, and a bond deal associated with the bond asset; and
wherein the debt deal, the equity deal, and the bond deal occur at different times with different counterparties.
8. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the debt assets include a mortgage backed security backed by a plurality of mortgage loans.
9. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 8, wherein each registered user has a registration with the data processing system and the registration includes an access level identifying the data the user may access.
10. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the user interface logic is configured to provides access to a plurality of registered users.
11. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the data regarding the plurality of financial assets includes data regarding deals associated with the plurality of financial assets.
12. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the data regarding the plurality of financial assets includes data regarding a plurality of counterparties associated with the plurality of financial assets.
13. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of counterparties includes lenders, brokers, servicers, borrowers and syndicators.
14. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of properties includes multifamily properties.
15. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the data regarding the plurality of financial assets includes data regarding a plurality of mortgage loans associated with the plurality of financial assets.
16. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the deal management logic receives and processes data regarding the investment transaction between the investor and a counterparty regarding at least one of the plurality of financial assets.
17. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the cash flow management logic generates at least one regulatory disclosure report.
18. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the user interface logic include a network-enabled user interface permitting the registered user to access the data processing system by way of an Intranet.
19. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 1,
wherein, for the particular property, the plurality of financial assets include a debt asset, an equity asset, and a bond asset;
wherein the data regarding the plurality of financial assets includes data regarding a debt deal associated with the debt asset, an equity deal associated with the equity asset, and a bond deal associated with the bond asset; and
wherein the debt deal, the equity deal, and the bond deal occur at different times with different counterparties.
20. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 19, further comprising deal management logic coupled to the user interface logic to receive and process data regarding a deal between the investor and a counterparty regarding at least one of the plurality of financial assets including evaluating exposure of the investor based the data regarding the plurality of financial assets; and wherein evaluating exposure of the investor includes evaluating past performance of the particular property over the life of the particular property based on the data regarding the debt deal associated with the debt asset, the equity deal associated with the equity asset, and the bond deal associated with the bond asset.
21. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 20, wherein evaluating exposure of the investor includes evaluating past performance of a counterparty.
22. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 20, wherein evaluating exposure of the investor includes evaluating past performance of financial assets in a particular geographic region.
23. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 7, wherein the deal management logic evaluates exposure of the investor based upon the data regarding the plurality of financial assets; and wherein evaluating exposure of the investor includes evaluating past performance of the particular property over the life of the particular property based on the data regarding the debt deal associated with the debt asset, the equity deal associated with the equity asset, and the bond deal associated with the bond asset.
24. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 23, wherein evaluating exposure of the investor includes evaluating past performance of a counterparty.
25. A computer-implemented data processing system according to claim 23, wherein evaluating exposure of the investor includes evaluating past performance of financial assets in a particular geographic region.
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 apparatus for measuring bulge of a container comprising:
an extensible frame having an interior ledge dimensioned to maintain the container in a snug fit relationship within a rectilinear aperture formed by the extensible frame;
a plurality of sensor assemblies coupled orthogonally to the extensible frame, the plurality of sensor assemblies in communication with centroidal areas of panels forming the container and adapted to output signals corresponding to measured deflections induced applied upon the panels by an external load applied upon the container; and,
an output processing unit operatively coupled to the plurality of sensor assemblies for outputting the measured deflections in either a human cognizable format or a machine readable format.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the measured deflections represent bulging of the container at least at the centroidal areas of the panels.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the interior ledge is disposed along the periphery of the rectilinear aperture.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the extensible frame is extensible in at least two dimensions.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the extensible frame comprises:
a set of beams, each of the beams being slidably coupled at about one end with a longitudinal slot of another beam aligned orthogonally to the slidably coupled beam.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of the sensor assemblies comprise:
a platen to abut against a panel of the container in a face-to-face relationship such that a deflection of the panel induces displacement of the platen;
a sensor for converting the displacement of the platen into a signal readable by the output processing unit.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the container is one of; a corrugated fiberboard container, a metal container and a plastic container.
8. An apparatus for measuring bulge of a container comprising:
an extensible frame having an interior ledge dimensioned to maintain the container in a constant geometry within a rectilinear aperture formed by the frame;
a first repositionable sensor assembly aligned with an X-axis of the container and in communication with an approximate centroidal of a first panel of the corrugated container;
a second repositionable sensor assembly aligned with a Y-axis of the container and in communication with an approximate centroidal area of a second panel of the container;
a third repositionable sensor assembly aligned with a Z-axis of the container and in communication with an approximate centroidal of a third panel of the container;
the first, second and third repositionable sensor assemblies adapted to output signals corresponding to measured deflections induced upon any of the first, second and third panels by an external load applied upon the container;
an output processing unit operatively coupled with the first, second and third repositionable sensor assemblies for simultaneously outputting the measured deflections in either a human cognizable format or a machine readable format, the outputted measured deflections representing bulging of the container along any of the X, Y and Z-axes of thereof.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the container is a corrugated fiberboard container.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein each of the first, second or third repositionable sensor assemblies comprise:
a platen to abut against a respective first, second or third panel of the container in a face-to-face relationship such that a deflection of the respective first, second or third panel induces displacement of the platen;
a sensor adapted to convert the displacement of the platen into a signal readable by the output processing unit.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein at least two of the first, second or third repositionable sensor assemblies comprise:
a repositionable riser adapted to allow positioning of the respective first, second or third repositionable sensor assemblies in planes which parallel the respective first, second or third panels.
12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein each of the first, second or third repositionable sensor assemblies comprise:
communicating means for communicating the displacement of the platen to the sensor.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the communicating means is a pushrod.
14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein at least two of the first, second or third repositionable sensor assemblies further comprise:
a bracket repositionably coupled with the extensible frame and adapted to allow repositioning of the respective first, second or third sensor assemblies in planes which parallel a face of the respective first, second or third panels.
15. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the extensible frame comprises:
a set of beams, each beam being slidably coupled at about a proximal end with a longitudinal slot of another orthogonally aligned beam;
an outer leg extending downward from about a distal end of each in a dimension which parallels the Y-axis.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein each of the beams further comprise:
an inner leg coupled at about the proximal end and aligned in a parallel spaced relationship with the outer leg.
17. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the external load is uniformly applied along the Y-axis to a fourth panel opposite the second panel such that the container is compressed between the frame and the external load.
18. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the interior ledge spans about 0.5 inch width of the extensible frame and forms a perimeter of the rectilinear aperture.
19. An apparatus for measuring bulge of a container comprising:
an extensible frame having an interior ledge dimensioned to maintain the container in a snug fit relationship within a rectilinear aperture formed by interior walls of the extensible frame, the extensible frame formed from a set of beams, each of the beams being slidably coupled at about one end with a longitudinal slot of another beam aligned orthogonally to each slidably coupled beam;
triaxial sensor assemblies in communication at about centroidal areas of orthogonally aligned panels forming the container and adapted to output signals corresponding to measured deflections induced applied upon the panels by an external load applied upon the container; and,
output processing unit operatively coupled to the triaxial sensor assemblies for simultaneously outputting the measured deflections in either a human cognizable format or a machine readable format, the outputted measured deflections representing bulging of the container along any of the X, Y and Z axes of thereof;
wherein at least two of the triaxial sensor assemblies are repositionably coupled with the extensible frame.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein each of the beams comprises:
a pair of legs disposed in a parallel spaced relationship at about proximal and distal longitudinal ends of the beams.
21. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the container is shaped as a polyhedron.
22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the polyhedron is one of a cube or a regular prism.
23. A method for measuring bulge of a container using the apparatus of claim 1 comprising:
adjusting the extensible frame to snuggly receive the container within the rectilinear aperture;
disposing the container within the rectilinear aperture such that upright panels of the container are encompassed by the extensible frame and a bottom panel of the container is flush with at least a portion of the interior ledge;
applying the external load upon a top panel of the container opposite the bottom panel;
receiving the measured deflections output from the output processing unit in either a human cognizable format or a machine readable format.
24. The method of claim 23 wherein the container is one of; a corrugated fiberboard container, a metal container and a plastic container.
25. A method for measuring bulge of a container using the apparatus of claim 8 comprising:
adjusting the extensible frame to snuggly receive the container within the rectilinear aperture;
disposing the container within the rectilinear aperture such that upright panels of the container are encompassed by the extensible frame and a bottom panel of the container is flush with at least a portion of the interior ledge;
repositioning the first, second and third repositionable sensors assemblies such that platens associated with the sensor assemblies abut with the centroidal areas of the first, second and third panels respectively;
applying the external load upon a fourth panel of the container opposite the third panel;
receiving the measured deflections output from the output processing unit in either a human cognizable format or a machine readable format.
26. The method of claim 25 wherein the container is a corrugated fiberboard container.
27. A method for measuring bulge of a container using the apparatus of claim 19 comprising:
adjusting the extensible frame to snuggly receive the container within the rectilinear aperture formed by the interior walls of the extensible frame;
disposing the container within the rectilinear aperture such that upright panels of the container are encompassed by the extensible frame and a bottom panel of the container is flush with at least a portion of the interior ledge;
repositioning the triaxial sensor assemblies such that platens associated with each of the triaxial sensor assemblies abut with the centroidal areas of the orthogonally aligned panels;
applying the external load upon a top panel of the container opposite the bottom panel;
receiving the measured deflections output from the output processing unit in either a human cognizable format or a machine readable format.
28. The method of claim 27 wherein the container is a corrugated fiberboard container.