Abstract: The application relates to a convertible automobile with a windscreen which is arranged behind a row of seats and which extends vertically upwards and beyond the top of the seats and which extends for the entire interior width of the vehicle. In order to develop a windscreen of this type in such a way that annoying draft phenomena are prevented while the typical "convertible feel" is maintained, the windscreen is formed by a stretched elastically deformable net which causes a deceleration of the air flow impinging from the rear of the vehicle towards the front.

Abstract: A heat removing edge guide system removes heat from a circuit board. The system includes a heat sink plate, a stationary guide fixed to the mounting surface of the heat sink plate, and a moving guide slidably mounted on a top surface of the stationary guide. Sliding of the moving guide along the upper surface of the stationary guide causes a change in the vertical distance between the mounting surface of the heat sink plate and the upper surface of the moving guide. The moving guide, the stationary guide and the heat sink plate form a thermally conductive path. A screw-adjusted side guide can also be provided to cause a wedging with a lateral wall of the chassis support and thus provide an additional heat sink path and system stability.

Abstract: A buffer amplifier configuration simultaneously reduces d.c. voltage offsets through the signal flow path between its input and output and maintains a high input impedance and a low output impedance. In a preferred embodiment, high input impedance is achieved by coupling the input transistor's collector to a high impedance current source, which is coupled to one of the buffer's power supply rails. The emitter of the input transistor is coupled to the input terminal and its base of the base of a like polarity bipolar output transistor, the emitter of which is coupled to an output terminal and the collector of which is coupled to one supply rail. Since both the input and output transistors are of the same polarity type (so that they can be reasonably well matched during manufacture) and have their base-emitter junctions connected back-to-back between the input and output terminals, they impart effectively no Vbe-based d.c. offset voltage through the buffer.

Abstract: A process of manufacturing a trench-isolated semiconductor structure comprises forming a first `pad` (e.g. MOS gate) oxide layer on a first surface of a silicon substrate. An oxide etch protective layer of silicon nitride is selectively formed on a first portion of the pad oxide layer so as to overlie a first surface portion of the silicon substrate in which active device regions will be introduced. A second oxide layer is then deposited on the pad oxide layer and on the nitride layer. The dual oxide layer is then patterned to form a trench mask which exposes a second surface portion of the silicon substrate. An etchant is then applied to the structure so as to etch away material from the silicon substrate exposed by the second surface portion and a portion of the second oxide layer, thereby forming a trench in the second surface portion of the silicon substrate.

Abstract: Directed millimeter wave radiation from internal elements of a microwave circuit through the housing cover, housing base, and side walls of a hermetically-sealed MMIC integrated subsystem assembly uses a waffle-wall array of conductive posts as a band rejection filter to provide walls which guide the radiated waves through a hermetically sealed window in the housing base for waveguide propagation or to a dielectric side wall or cover to radiate energy therethrough. For a waveguide launch, the launch probe is printed on a TEM mode microstrip transmission line substrate and is located over or on a dielectric window formed at the end of an air filled waveguide. A waveguide-like mode of propagation is launched perpendicular to the microstrip substrate and the energy is transmitted through the dielectric window into the air dielectric waveguide which extends through the housing base.

Abstract: A collapsible `bedspring` monopole antenna is configured to be effectively non-observable in its collapsed condition and, when deployed, remains sufficiently compact to ensure very low observability characteristics, while providing broadband coverage over a wide viewing aperture. The antenna is comprised of a conductor formed as a tapered helix. One end of the conductor is coupled to an antenna feed. The outer end of the helix is looped around on itself to form a circular loop. A plurality of substantially rectilinear `radials` are soldered to distributed locations around its circular loop, so as to extend outwardly and tangentially from the outer perimeter of the loop and provide `top hat` capacitive matching elements. To define the height of the deployed antenna and to electrically short out plural locations of the helix, a plurality of conductive straps are joined to respective spaced apart locations of the helix.

Abstract: The value of an unknown variable associated with a particular hypothesis is determined by iteratively setting the variable to each of its possible values and, for each iteration, propagating the known variables and the value of the unknown variable through confluences of the model. If only one value for the unknown variable results in a consistent set of predictions for the hypothesis, the unknown variable is set to that value. If no variables result in a consistent set of predictions, then the hypothesis is deemed to be invalid.

Abstract: The invention relates to a permanent magnet system with associated coil arrangement, the permanent magnet system consisting of two axially polarized permanent magnet rings which are mounted one behind another in the axial direction, like poles of the permanent magnet rings being opposite one another, the two permanent magnet rings being distanced from one another by a soft magnetic spacing washer, the permanent magnet rings being surrounded on the outside by a coil in such a way that the coil central axis coincides with the central axis of the permanent magnet rings, the center of the coil being located in the normal position of the coil at the level of the soft magnetic spacing washer, at least one coil being located inside the inside diameter of the permanent magnet ring in such a way that the coil central axis of the coils coincides with the central axis of the permanent magnet rings, the center of the coils being located in the normal position of the coils at the level of the soft magnetic spacing washer.

Abstract: A device for finding faults in a target system that has a plurality of "LRUs", which are the lowest replaceable units in the target system. The fault finding device receives input data relating to a state of the target system, stores a probability of failure of individual LRUs of the target system, and stores rules, these rules relating conclusions and premises, with at least some of the conclusions identifying a faulty LRU. The device determines a certainty of a conclusion of a stored rule in response to a comparison of the premises of the rule and the input data, and orders the conclusions of the stored rules as a function of both the probability of failure of individual LRUs and the certainties of conclusions of the stored rules.

Abstract: Improved operation of a differentially coupled transistor circuit is achieved by modulating the circuit's bias current as a function of the input differential voltage. The bias current-modulated, differentially coupled transistor circuit includes first and second differentially transistor pairs, the bases of which are coupled across input terminals to which the differential voltage is applied. The emitters of the first transistor pair are coupled in common to a first constant bias current source, and the emitters of the second transistor pair are coupled in common to a second constant bias current source. The collector of one of the transistors of the first pair is coupled to the collector of the differentially coupled transistor of the second pair, so as to provide a first summation collector current.

Abstract: An invasive line separator comprises first and second plates of translucent plastic, which are hinged together so that they fold against one another in a face-to-face configuration. The first plate has a plurality of spaced apart, parallel channels that are sized and configured to receive and engage respective sections of invasive line, so that when the lines are placed within the channels they lie beneath the planar surface of the plate. This allows the hinged second plate to be folded into abutment with and provide a cover for channels of the first plate, without constricting invasive lines placed in the channels. The first plate also contains one or more slots alongside an edge, to accommodate straps for securing the separator to an adjacent structure, such as a bed rail. With the hinged plates folded together, any sections of invasive line that have been arranged within the grooves are securely retained in the first plate by second plate.

Abstract: A vehicle VDU workstation is matched to specific safety requirements in a motor vehicle and essentially comprises, as physical elements of a working unit, a keyboard and a flat screen which can be folded onto the latter. A sliding guide allows those parts, on one hand, to be stowed in the glove compartment of the vehicle in a space-saving manner and, on the other hand, also placed in a use position on the folded-out glove compartment door. In the stowed position, the working unit is located behind the glove compartment door. Special mounting elements, some of which at least can be stowed in the glove compartment, allow the VDU workstation also to be used in other seats in the vehicle by being suspended behind backrests of vehicle seats from headrest supports and, to this extent, placed there in a use position. Vibrations of the working unit are weakened by damping elements.

Abstract: An active four-wheel steering system for motor vehicles has steering devices for the front wheels and the rear wheels. These devices operate as a function of driving condition quantities fed to an electronic control unit. A variable wheel steering angle relationship with respect to the front wheels is adjusted, in which case the input signal concerning the steering wheel angle from a steering wheel angle sensor and the additional signal concerning the vehicle speed from a speed sensor is fed to a first function calculation task apparatus of the control unit. This function calculation task apparatus generates a first output signal for the lateral acceleration which, as an input signal, together with the additional input signal of the vehicle speed, is fed to a second function calculation task apparatus.

Abstract: An n-stage amplifier circuit includes n+1 directional couplers connected in series between the circuit input, the amplifier stages, and the circuit output. Each coupler includes first and third ports forming an inverting interface, and second and fourth ports forming a non-inverting interface, the ports being coupled through suitable windings. Feedback lines are connected between adjacent successive couplers. The interfaces of the couplers are connected such that feedback loops covering one or more contiguous successive amplifier stages provide negative feedback for the amplifier circuit.

Abstract: A wheel suspension system for a motor vehicle is described for influencing wheel movement during suspension operations by a positively guided wheel suspension link which can be swivelled on the vehicle body about an axis formed by link bearings and, by way of bearings, is supported on the wheel carrier in an articulated manner. The wheel suspension link is linked to the wheel carrier by bridge elements forming coupling squares which are set at an angle with respect to one another with respect to a perpendicular wheel center longitudinal plane. Longitudinal planes extending through the bridge elements intersect with one another approximately in the perpendicular longitudinal center plane and approximately at the level of the wheel contact surface. Because of the linkage of the wheel suspension link on the wheel carrier by the bridge elements forming coupling squares, during suspension movements of the wheel, essentially only a track change of the wheel can take place.

Abstract: A decimating memory includes a memory having addressable memory locations. The memory forms a plurality of registers, each of the registers including at least one addressable memory location. The plurality of registers form a forward shifting data section and a reverse shifting data section. A first decoder operates the registers in the forward shifting data section and all but a first of the registers in the reverse shifting data section as first in first out registers via read and write addressing of the addressable memory locations to input and output data samples. The read and write addressing of the addressable memory locations is offset with respect to one another to provide a decimation factor. A paintbrush decoder operates the first register in the reverse shifting data section as a last in first out register for reverse sequencing data samples within blocks of data samples received from the forward shifting data section.

Abstract: A broadband high power amplifier for multifrequency signal applications comprises an N-way power combiner that is arranged to combine a plurality of multi-frequency input signals and provide a combined (complex) signal at its output. The output of the N-way combiner is amplified in a preamplifier stage and supplied therefrom to an M-way power divider. The M-way power divider has a plurality of M output ports from which M subdivided versions of the combined (complex) output signal from the preamplifier are derived. Each of these effectively identical subdivided signals is coupled to a respective one of a plurality of M signal amplifier stages that drive the radial power combiner. Each amplifier stage is a relatively low to moderate gain amplifier stage, so that its amplitude and phase characteristics may be matched with those of the others of the M amplifier stages.

Abstract: The gain of a recursive integrator is controlled so as to be adaptive to the quality of a received signal by comparing the magnitude of its emphasized information component with a reference voltage and controlling the gain of the integrator's feedback delay path in accordance with the difference between the peak value of the emphasized information component and the reference voltage. As a result, when the signal to noise ratio of the input signal is high, the gain can be reduced, so that the recursive loop will adapt quickly to changes in a multipath profile.

Abstract: A hydraulic dual-circuit brake system has brake booster with a first output pressure chamber allocated to the front-axle brake circuit I and a second output pressure chamber allocated to the rear-axle brake circuit II. The chambers are movably delimited by master cylinder pistons, to each of which is allocated a position sensor. An electronic control device is provided to process the output signals of the position sensors and to emit control signals for a valve arrangement by which a brake circuit which is poorly bled or leaking is blocked off from its master brake line.