Abstract: This is an apparatus and associated method for rolling large pieces of a flexible media such as completed plots produced by a plotting pen plotter. The rolling mechanism is placed adjacent an exit of the pen plotter to received ejected media pieces therein. Upon detecting the leading edge of a media piece while in an open position, the mechanism closes to form a guide slot to a cylindrical rolling chamber. The media piece is then urged along the guide slot and into the rolling chamber where it is rolled by a drive roller. Upon detecting the trailing edge of the media piece, the mechanism opens allowing the rolled media piece to fall into a receiving bin. The stationary portion and the rotating portion are formed of a plurality of slats having low contact area edges disposed for media pieces to move along whereby the media pieces move along a low friction path.

Abstract: This invention is a self-adjusting motor mount for holding a driving gear mounted on the shaft of a motor in engagement with a driven gear carried by a back plate disposed in a vertical plane and is particularly useful in a pen plotter. There is a mounting plate carrying the motor and the driving gear. A pivotal mounting carried by the back plate attaches the mounting plate to the back plate at a point above the motor for pivotal movement so as to have the motor pivotally hang from the point. There is a bias spring for resiliently urging the mounting plate to carry the driving gear into engagement with the driven gear. Finally, there is a shock absorber carried by the back plate for absorbing pivotal gear disengaging movement of the mounting plate.

Abstract: This invention is directed to the use of single optical sensor to replace two mechanical sensors in a pen plotter. A light beam is directed through a slot in the plotter's main platen. The light beam is detected to provide a signal output. Servo fan motors of the plotter are turned on when the light beam is broken by media placed into the plotter for plotting as one function. A load sequence of the plotter is started only after a start command is input by a user through a control console and the light beam is broken by media placed into the plotter for plotting as a second function.

Abstract: In an electro-magnetic, cordless digitizer system wherein a transducer emits an AC magnetic field which is detected by a first grid of scanned parallel first wires in a tablet to provide positional data for the transducer in a first axis of a coordinate system and which are detected by a second grid of scanned second wires in the tablet to provide positional data for the transducer in a second perpendicular axis of the coordinate system, a method and associated apparatus for obtaining a phase reference signal; to be used in a demodulator demodulating data signals from the first and second grids of scanned first and second wires.

Abstract: A boot system for selectively applying heat or cold to the lower portion of the leg of a horse for therapeutic purposes. There is a U-shaped inner boot portion positioned over the lower portion of the leg at a front portion thereof. The inner boot portion has a leather front panel with a pair of side panels extending from the front panel. It is lined with the fabric portion of a touch fastener material and has hook portion on the outer surface of the side panels. There is also a leather covered U-shaped outer boot portion positioned over the back of the leg with a pair of side panels overlapping the pair of side panels of the inner boot portion and lined with a fabric portion of the touch fastener material in releasable engagement with the hook portion on the outer surface of the pair of side panels of the inner boot portion.

Abstract: This invention maintains a selected printed ink drop density in an image recording device such as an X-Y plotter having a cartridge of the type which emits discrete ink droplets onto a recording medium and wherein the cartridge is transported along two axes with respect to the medium. There is sensing apparatus for sensing the two-dimensional velocity vector of the cartridge and control apparatus for regulating the rate at which the cartridge emits the droplets in accordance with the two-dimensional velocity vector. Thus, a given printed dot density on the medium is maintained for different angles of travel of the cartridge.

Abstract: This invention is a two-color unitary application and vacuuming head for a liquid toner electrostatic printing system. There is a body having three planar faces angularly displaced from one another concentrically about a pivot point, one of the faces being a first toner face having openings therein communicating with a first network of toner passages in the body, a second of the faces being a second toner face having openings therein communicating with a second network of toner passages in the body, a third of the faces being a vacuum face also having individual openings therein communicating respectively with a third network of toner passages in the body and with a fourth network of toner passages in the body.

Abstract: This invention is a waste fluid containment and recovery apparatus for installation on the well-head of an oil well in-line with a pair of interfacing flanges thereof. There is a pan having a bottom and surrounding sidewalls. The bottom has a bore therethrough. There is also a flange interface having a pair of opposed interfacing surfaces which interface with respective ones of the pair of interfacing flanges disposed around the bore for sealably connecting the bottom of the pan in line with the well-head. A drain pipe is connected through the bottom for connection to a hose leading to waste fluid recovery apparatus.

Abstract: This is a corrective saddle pad for use under a saddle to provide a better fit of the saddle on a horse's back. The pad is in two portions connected by adjustable straps so as to sit on opposite sides of the horse's backbone. It further comprises a pair of washable inner pads and a pair of corrective outer pad releasable attached to one another. The washable inner pads have a layer of neoprene foam rubber in contact with the horse's skin to prevent rubbing and chafing.

Abstract: This invention is directed to a method and associated apparatus for allowing the carriage shafts of a pen plotter to be mounted and aligned quickly and accurately without the introduction of any bending stresses or intra-shaft misalignment. The shafts have conical indentations in the ends thereof. Laterally slidable end caps are bolted over the shaft ends and bolted in place in proper alignment with the shafts. An end cap on one end of the shafts has conical projections in the bottoms of bores therein aligned with and fitting into the shaft ends. An end cap on the other end of the shafts has bolts with conical ends threaded through the bottoms of bores therein aligned with and fitting into the shaft ends. The bolts through the end cap are tightened to hold the shafts in place. An alignment fixture holds the shafts in proper alignment while the end caps are aligned and tightened.

Abstract: The invention is a digitizer circuit in a peripheral system for a computer comprising a moveable instrument and a planar grid in which an excitation signal in one of said instrument and grid generates an induced signal in the other one of said instrument and grid, and wherein the phase difference between said excitation and induced signals is indicative of the position of said instrument with respect to said grid, comprising means for summing said excitation and induced signals to produce a sum signal and means for producing an output signal whose frequency is a function of the amplitude of said sum signal.

Abstract: In a multicomputer, concurrent computing system having a plurality of computing nodes, this is a method and apparatus for routing message packets between the nodes.

Abstract: This invention is a scanning probe microscope which uses three separate motorized legs to adjust the distance between the probe and sample and to adjust the tilt between the probe and the sample. The microscope is shown configured in various ways. One form is a scanner on a base in which the base contains the sample and legs. Another is a scanner which contains the legs and rests on the sample, or may also rest on a support that spans a larger sample allowing translation of the sample independent of the scanner. Another is a scanner which contains the legs and is mounted so that a sample holder sits on the legs. The latter configuration allows for easy access to the sample. One variation of this configuration has provision for the mounting of several samples which can be sequenced for probing automatically.

Abstract: A wireless local television transmission system with related methods, apparatus, and components. There is a source of a video signal to be viewed at a remote location such as a TV camera, cable select box, antenna, or VCR. An up converter is connected to the source for shifting the video signal to a frequency above the normal television bands. A transmitter is connected to the up converter for transmitting the video signal at the shifted frequency. A receiver is disposed at the remote location for receiving the transmitted video signal. A down converter is connected to the receiver for shifting the video signal back down to a frequency within the normal television bands and identified with a known channel. Finally, conventional television set functions are connected to the down converter for processing and displaying the video signal on the known channel.

Abstract: The invention is a method for operating a Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM) to provide the capability to eliminate the scanner drift that occurs after the scan area is offset within the range of the scanner. The method disclosed comprises applying an offset that is larger than the desired one and then reducing the offset back to the desired value for scanning. The technique has been found to produce good results for both large and small scans.

Abstract: A unitary shelf bracket for mounting to vertically spaced holes in a vertical side member to support the ends of a shelf wherein the bracket is self-adjusting and shelf-locking. The bracket is formed of a tough resiliently flexible plastic and has a backplate portion having front and back surfaces and a shelf support member extending horizontally outward normal to the front surface adjacent a bottom end thereof. There is a first peg lying on a centerline of the backplate portion, sized to fit into the holes, and extending outward normal to the back surface adjacent a top end thereof. There is also a second peg similar to the first to fit into another adjacent hole. A plurality of first fingers extend downward from adjacent the top end of the backplate at an acute angle thereto and terminate in respective bottom edges parallel to the shelf support member at different spaced distances therefrom. A pair of upward tilted second fingers are disposed at respective side edges of the shelf support member.

Abstract: A door lock actuating mechanism particularly suited for used with a multi-panel rolling overhead garage door having an automatic opener attached thereto by a connecting bar. The mechanism fits between the connecting bar and the top door panel and a pull cable operating the locking bolt(s) is also connected thereto. There is an attaching member attached to the top panel and a sliding pendulum bar to which the connecting bar and cable are connected. When the door is opened, the pendulum bar slides to an unlocked position where it is latched by the force of gravity thus holding the locking bolt(s) in an unlocked position during door movement. The pendulum bar and locking bolt(s) are only released when the attaching member returns to the vertical position upon door closing.

Abstract: This invention is an enhanced probe positioning technique for Scanning Tunneling Microscopes, Atomic Force Microscopes, and other scanning probe microscopes. The invention has particular application for drift compensation. The invention adds a controllable motion to the probe that is totally independent of the scanning or other probe positioning. If the drift velocity is known, the invention can be used to compensate for the drift. In addition, several implementations are shown for measuring drift velocity. One method has the operator identify a significant feature of the acquired image on separate frames of data. The shift of this pattern or feature, along with the time between frames, can be used to calculate the drift velocity. Two methods are described that utilize the frequency shift of the image spatial spectrum due to the effect of the drift velocity on bi-directional scans. Another method is described that derives drift velocity and direction from the correlation of separate frames of data.