Abstract: A net pen or cage for containing aquatic animals. The pen has a light-weight inexpensive net cover for the top which keeps predators out. The cover is easy to apply and remove and yet is held securely in place by means of studs or posts extending upwardly from the frame of the cage or pen and having enlarged heads which preferably are slightly larger than the holes in the mesh. Preferably the mesh is made up of resilient plastic strands which snap back into their original shape after being deformed by the bolt-heads passing through, so that the bolt heads and the netting together form a snap-fitting fastening system. In one embodiment, panels of materials such plastic netting are suspended in cages so as to attract the growth of algae thereon for feeding algae-eating aquatic animals such as conch, fish, etc. in the cages.

Abstract: A system and method for distributing lottery tickets includes a large number of remote, ticket-dispensing units which are connected intermittently, e.g., once each day or week to a central computer. The units record the numbers of tickets sold and transmit the sales data to the central computer, which in turn performs all the necessary accounting functions. Sales reports and invoice data may be sent by the central computer to each unit for printing, which avoids the need to mail the reports/invoices. The tickets are stored in fan-fold form and are burst, rather than cut, apart for dispensing. The tickets are dispensed at one end of the unit which faces the customer. A control panel for the vendor is located at the opposite end. Tickets of different length may be dispensed with an imprint of the vendor's name.

Abstract: Plural picture images are displayed side-by-side on a single display where they can be compared. It is preferred that the signals for the pictures be converted, by suitable processing means, into a form suitable for storage, and stored. The stored signals then are retrieved and displayed with a picture whose signals are processed by the same processing means so as to avoid differential degradation of the signals being compared. Preferably, the storage device is a digital memory and the processing means includes analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion means. Color correction of one of the images can be affected, if needed, by the use of other features of the color corrector disclosed herein.

Abstract: The indicator light, preferably a LED, is mounted in a insulating housing secured by a pair of legs with relatively broad feet which are soldered to conductive pads on the surface of a printed circuit board. Preferably, the printed circuit board uses "surface mount" technology. The leads of the LED are spot welded to the legs to make electrical connections between the LED and the circuit board. The structure elevates the LED above the board surface, and/or allows mounting the LED close to the edge of the circuit board, and/or allows the light from the LED to be directed parallel to the board surface. A particularly advantageous use of the structure is one in which printed circuit boards are arranged in an array with the boards parallel to one another and the LED mounting structures near the end of each board so as to provide maximum visibility of the LEDs from many angles so as to quickly indicate equipment functional status to an operator or trouble-shooter.

Abstract: A laser beam is widened in one dimension to cover an array of a substantial number of electro-optic gates. The beam is divided by the gates into a plurality of potential spot-forming beams. The transmission of each beam to a photosensitive surface is selectively inhibited in accordance with a pre-determined pattern or program, while the beams are swept relative to the photosensitive surface to form characters and other images. Preferably, the gates are formed by a wafer of PLZT electro-optic ceramic material, with a large number of closely-spaced electrodes on the surface, in cooperation with a crossed polarizer. Preferably, the beams are collimated and a traveling lens and reflector combination is moved parallel to the photosensitive surface in the collimated beams to space the spots on the film from one another. The collimated beams are made convergent so that a relatively small, light-weight lens can be used to compose relatively long lines of text without excessive loss of light or vignetting.

Abstract: A compact reverse-osmosis water purifier especially adapted for use in the household on a counter-top, with an easy-to-operate diverter valve to connect the purifier to a water faucet and sink. A battery-operated pump is provided to dispense water from a storage reservoir. This reduces the size of the purifier unit while maximizing the height from the dispensing spout to the counter-top to accommodate relatively tall vessels for receiving the dispensed water. An automatic conductivity test device causes a red or a green lamp to be lit each time a button is pressed to dispense water, the green lamp indicating that the water is of sufficient purity, and the red lamp indicating that it is not, or that the device is malfunctioning or requires flush cleaning. The diverter valve can be operated to selectively pass water through the faucet in the usual way, or to feed water to the purifier.

Abstract: The computer terminal controller makes it possible to operate a relatively large number of input-output terminals with a single mainframe computer. The controller has a basic configuration enabling it to control up to sixteen terminals. However, the user easily can increase its capacity by adding one or more expansion modules, each module consisting of a cable connector panel and a printed circuit card. Precise locating pins and support structure and hand-operable fasteners are used to mount the panel so that no tools or special skills are needed. Each circuit card preferably contains sufficient circuitry to handle a specific number of additional input/output terminals, and the panel has the same number of cable connectors. The card and the panel are connected to one another by simply plugging them together. The card is guided accurately into engagement with the panel by card guides.

Abstract: A protective wheelchair cover into which a wheelchair is easily introduced, and methods of using same during the transportation or storage of a wheelchair. The cover provides a complete enclosure into which a wheelchair can be easily rolled. The cover provides protection during the transportation of a wheelchair by motor vehicle, or during storage of a wheelchair.

Abstract: Cyclopropane ("Cyclopropyl") amino acids and peptides containing at least one cyclopropyl amino acid are disclosed. The processes for synthesizing cyclopropyl amino acids and peptides containing at least one cyclopropyl amino acid are also disclosed. Cyclopropyl amino acids are useful as enzyme inhibitors and as substitutes for natural amino acids in peptide hormones such as regulators of bodily functions to enhance bioactivity, to stabilize the peptide into which it is incorporated to cleavage by enzymes and to convert such peptides into enzyme inhibitors.

Abstract: The sponge has a flat washing surface and a round back. It is shaped so as to minimize the bending of the fingers when gripping it, thus facilitating its use by people with arthritic or crippled hands. The sponge also has a notch for a finger to fit into. This makes the sponge easier to grip and control, and allows the application of greater scrubbing pressure to a small area by applying finger pressure against a thin section of sponge material at the end of the notch. This facilitates washing crevices of the body and other difficult-to-reach surfaces. Although the sponge can be used for a wide variety of washing jobs, it is especially useful as a bath sponge. Preferably, the sponge is made of fully-reticulated polyurethane foam, and is formed by compressing a thick sheet of foam against a plate with a shaped hole or cavity in it, and slicing off the protruding mass of material.

Abstract: One or more thin-wall tubes called "equiducts" are located near or on the bottom of a body of water such as a lake or ocean, or, more typically, in a water artery such as a river or stream. When the tubes are used for waste transport along a river, communities and industrial plants discharge their sewage and other wastes into the tubes at various locations along the river. The liquids in the tubes are in fluid equilibrium with the surrounding water, so that the tube walls can be thin and made of relatively inexpensive materials. The liquids are carried downstream in the tubes by the natural grade of the river bed, and by pumps located at spaced intervals on the river bed. The liquids are conducted to one of several different disposal arrangements. One disposal arrangement is a conventional on-shore processing plant. Another is simply a deep-water disposal site far out into the ocean or a large lake at the end of the river.

Abstract: Photosensitive sheet handling apparatus and method for phototypesetters. Accurate control of the lateral positioning of the sheet (i.e., film) is provided by the use of tapered drive rolls. The apparatus includes an input cassette, a film input drive assembly comprised of tapered pinch rollers and a lateral film edge locating stop, a slightly tapered vacuum film drive drum having a collar or flange on one side in accurate alignment with the edge locating stop of the pinch rollers, a motor operated output drive assembly also comprised of tapered pinch rollers and a film edge locating stop in accurate alignment with the drum flange, and a periodically operated film winding mechanism located within an output cassette. The tapered rolls urge one edge of the film against the flange of the drum and stops of the pinch rollers to maintain accurate alignment. Chambers are provided for receiving loops of film at the input and output sides of the drum.

Abstract: A system and method for measuring and controlling the parameters and conditions of a thin-wall submersed-tube fluid transport system called an "equiduct" system. The tube or tubes preferably are located near the bottom of a water artery such as a river, and are in fluid equilibrium with the surrounding water. This permits the tubes to have relatively thin, flexible walls, which makes the tubes relatively inexpensive and easy to install. Simple pumps cooperate with the slope of the river bed in pumping fluids through the tubes. Parameters such as fluid pressures and velocities, depth, gas and liquid concentrations, etc. are measured at spaced locations in the tubes, and the measurements are delivered to a central data processing and control station so that the parameters can be adjusted, or the need for repairs in the tubes can be detected and the repairs can be made.

Abstract: A time card recorder for recording an employee's clocking times, such as his clocking-in and clocking-out times at the beginning and end of a work period, upon a time card and for indicating a relationship between such clocking times and a working schedule which has been assigned to that employee. The time card recorder includes apparatus for storing each of a plurality of possible working schedules and apparatus for reading a symbol from the employee's time card which identifies the working schedule associated with that card. The symbol is the same for a plurality of time cards of different employees associated with the same working schedule.

Abstract: A device for recording both machine readable information and visible information on a recording member such as a time-card or ledger card or pass-book with a strip of magnetic record material on it. The device includes recording apparatus for recording machine readable information on the recording member, a transport mechanism for moving the recording member and the recording apparatus relative to each other, a printer for printing visible characters or other marks upon the recording member, and print spacing apparatus which uses the relative motion between the recording member and the recording apparatus to space the characters from one another on the recording member. In a preferred embodiment, the recording apparatus is a magnetic recorder and the magnetic recorder and the printer are fixed relative to each other during the motion created by the transport mechanism. Preferably, the same mechanism which creates the relative motion for recording also moves the record card into and out of the device.

Abstract: The connector or bushing fits into a "knock-out" hole in the wall of a junction box or the like in order to protect the cable or wires from contact with the box and to provide "strain relief", that is, to hold the cable or wire securely to prevent its conductors from being pulled loose from the electrical terminals to which they are connected. The connector has a first body member or "yoke" and a second body member or "wedge", both of which are formed in a single molding operation and are attached to one another temporarily. The yoke is fitted into the knock-out hole but only partially fills the hole. The cable is inserted through a hole in the yoke. The wedge slides in slots in the yoke and is shaped and positioned so that pressure applied to it by means of a screwdriver will cause it to break loose from the yoke, slide in the slots, and become wedged between the cable and one edge of the hole.

Abstract: Character matrices are stored in and retrieved from a magazine automatically. The matrices can be complete discs or pie-shaped "petals" which are assembled to form a disc. A single pivotably-mounted support arm is used to support the spinning disc, and to move it for selection of concentric arrays on the disc, as well as for storage and retrieval of matrices. A reversed zoom lens is used to magnify the characters.The character spacing carriage can move continuously in order to increase the speed of operation. Proper location of the characters can be done by simply altering the carriage speed between projections, or by using a shuttling lens for character spacing compensation, together with flash delay and carriage deceleration.A system for inputting images from any one of three separate discs also is provided.A double-dove prism and optical wedges are used for altering the shapes of characters.

Abstract: This invention is an improvement upon the system and method shown in the "Rainbow" U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,523. A special luminance compensation signal is formed by combining the color derivative signals (yellow, green, red, blue, cyan and magenta) with one another. The compensation signal so formed is combined with the luminance signal from a standard luminance matrix. The overall luminance signal is used in the usual way to form video picture signals. The individual color derivative components of the luminance signal can be varied independently of one another. This provides an improved degree of control and correction of video color signals, and corrects for some film errors which previously have not been adequately corrected. Preferably, the gain, pedestal and gamma factors of the overall luminance signal also can be controlled independently.

Abstract: In a color television camera, a color separation optical system includes a first relay lens behind a taking lens of the camera, color separation optical elements such as prism blocks or dichroic mirrors, and a set of second relay lenses. Image pick-up tubes for three colors are provided behind the second relay lenses. The pick-up tubes are mounted in coil assemblies. Each coil assembly is provided with a rotating device for conducting a position adjustment of the tube with respect to the associated second relay lens to make perfect registration between images of the three tubes. A focus adjusting device for conducting a focus adjustment between each second relay lens and the associated image pick-up tube is provided in each second relay lens. The focus adjusting devices are operable from outside the camera for sliding the second relay lenses in the direction of their optical axes.