Abstract: A system for automatic detection of defects in railroad wheels, a system that is stationary and is installed in extended intervals in the rails uses stationary acoustical/vibration sensors installed at intervals in the rails. Rail segments associated with the detectors are acoustically isolated. The sensors acquire the sounds and vibrations generated by the wheels rolling over the rails. Signal analyzers identify rail defects from intensity vs., frequency distributions of acoustical spectra. Such spectra reflect the condition of the wheels and change their intensity vs. frequency distributions when the wheels pass the sensors installed in the rails. The acquired information on the condition of the wheels is transmitted to a central location. Any defective wheel is identified and marked for repair or replacement.

Abstract: An electrohydraulic pavement breaker system having cavities (28, 30) which are filled with hydraulic fluid (oil) or gas, and which provide mass spring system which is resonant at a frequency which is especially adapted for breaking and rubblizing concrete pavement. The resonant mass (18) is in impacting relationship with the pavement through a shoe (12), which shoe (12) may be part of an assembly which is pivotally mounted on the support structure (10) of the breaker and is vibrated with the mass (18) to repeatedly impact the pavement at the rate of the resonant frequency. An electrohydraulic control system is responsive to the motion and average position of the mass of the vibrator and controls the driving force so as to be at the resonant frequency of the mass spring system and have the amplitude and energy suitable for breaking the pavement.

Abstract: An inertial impact drill for diverse applications in cytology such as in-vitro fertilization, genetic research, pharmaceutical research, cloning, etc., is designed to operate in conjunction with micropipettes, microelectrodes, and micromanipulators. The drill includes two opposing actuators, one version of which is comprised a plurality of individual piezoelectric elements, the other version is comprised of a plurality of electrostrictive elements. The actuators drive a small inertial mass to produce sharp short reciprocal movements of this mass. The movements of the inertial mass result in repetitive impacts that are transferred to the micropipette or a microelectrode, which is mechanically coupled to the body of the inertial impact drill. In addition, the impacts cause mechanical oscillation of the tip of a micropipette or a microelectrode at its resonant frequency that is higher than the repetition rate of the impacts.

Abstract: An acoustic transmission in an underwater environment having a spectrum (amplitude/frequency signature) of interest is generated by cyclically releasing energy which forms impulses which individually have spectral amplitudes principally near one end of the desired spectrum, but which impulses are repeated at a rate near the opposite end of the desired spectrum, which rate may be varied to smooth the spectral response. A multiplicity of impulses may be generated synchronously, the number depending upon the desired amplitude of the spectrum. A multi-port air gun having a stator with a series of ports, which are valved by a rotor coaxial with the stator provides the energy in the form of the release of compressed air bubbles. The rate at which the impulses are produced is controlled by controlling the speed of rotation of the rotor.

Abstract: A system for geophysical exploration uses a single source (30) which emits signals over multiple octaves. The source is driven by a composite sweep signal having two or more sweeps, one of which covers the lower octave (10) while the other sweeps cover the remainder of the bandwidth. The signals covering the lower portion are reduced in the case of a sweep which varies linearly with time in proportion to the square root of the ratio of the sweep rate of the signals covering the upper end to the sweep rate of the signals covering the lower end. The signals are transmitted simultaneously. Because of the composite sweep the same energy spectrum is transmitted as with a sine wave sweep which extends over the entire frequency band, while reducing the peak power and radiator displacement required at lower frequencies to maintain a flat spectrum. The size of the equipment can be reduced.

Abstract: A mixing system utilizes up pumping impellers which entrain gas into the liquid both at the surface (the gas liquid interface) and below the surface by induction to draw gas down below the surface where it is dispersed into the circulation produced by the impellers. The impellers are the axial flow type. Tubes disposed on the suction sides of the impeller blades, and providing gas outlets near the tips of the blades, rotate with the impellers. The tubes may extend along the shaft above the surface or into a hollow shaft having a breathing opening above the surface. The rotation of the impeller produces a suction at the tube outlets to draw gas into the liquid while the upward circulation produces surface turbulence for gas entrainment. The entrained gas from the surface and the gas discharged from the tubes is circulated.

Abstract: A mixing system in a tank provides a flotation cell for froth collection of minerals such as metallic ores thereby separating such ores from other materials with which they are mined and enabling a concentrated ore component to be collected. The mixing system maintains particles containing the ores in a circulating liquid suspension in a contact zone where bubbles are discharged. Ore particles are attracted and attached to the bubbles. The bubbles rise and float to the top of the liquid for collection of the concentrated ores. The mixing system includes a radial flow impeller and an axial flow impeller which are attached for rotation on a common shaft, with the axial flow impeller below the radial flow impeller. The radial flow impeller is disposed in a space between a disc, which rotates with the radial flow impeller and another disc which is stationary, and may be a flange of a pipe around the shaft and extending above the surface of the liquid.

Abstract: Mixer apparatus having an impeller on a shaft, which circulates a body of liquid the surface of which can clear the impeller, especially when the liquid is in a tank, and the tank is drained, is protected against excessive by use of a flexural member, which may be in the form of radially opposed pairs of resilient plates, which extend from the shaft and are attached thereto by a collar. As the liquid surface drops below the impeller, the members present surfaces to the liquid in the tank on which forces are opposing the oscillation are developed by interaction of the surfaces with the liquid in the tank. Restoring forces on the shaft due to the flexing of the resilient plates also reduce the shaft oscillation. The stiffness of the plates is selected to optimize the restoring forces for the mixing apparatus which is stabilized.

Abstract: A lens shapes a diverging laser diode beam, and particularly circularizes and collimates, or diverges, or converges the beam. The lens may be part of an optical system, or part of a laser diode assembly. The lens is constituted of a body, the opposite ends of which are spaced from each other. The surfaces of the ends may be toric with the toric centers being coincident with the optical axis. The surfaces also have curvature profiles which circularize and collimates, or diverges, or converges collimates the beam. The curvature profile of one of the first and second surfaces has a correction profile which is a function of Zernike polynomials, thereby reducing wavefront error of the beam exiting the lens. The correction profile is also a function of the offset of the laser diode from the optical axis (misalignment), thereby increasing the misalignment tolerances for beam to lens centering. The curvature profiles of the surfaces may have correction for astigmatism in the beam shape produced by the laser diode.

Abstract: The system provides for controlling color reproduction of input color image data representing one or more pages or page constituents in a network having nodes (or sites). Each one of the nodes comprises at least one rendering device. The system distributes the input color image data from one of the nodes to other nodes, and provides a data structure (virtual proof) in the network. This data structure has components shared by the nodes and other components present only at each node. Next, the system has means for providing color calibration data at each node characterizing output colors (colorants) of the rendering device of the node, and means for producing at each node, responsive to the color calibration data of the rendering device of the node, information for transforming the input color image data into output color image data at the rendering device of the node. The information is then stored in the data structure in different ones of the shared and other components.

Abstract: A glass channel insert to guide, support, and seal a slidable window in a supporting channel window frame. The channel insert includes a centrally disposed durable plastic strip to bear the weight of the window and side sealing or glide members, preferably a laterally disposed pair of opposed pile weatherstrips to seal the inner and outer window surfaces from wind and water. The bearing strip and the weatherstrips are adhered to a common surface of a flexible backing web, preferably by simultaneous ultrasonic welding, providing a substantially planar glass channel element which can be wound as a roll. In installation, the planar element is folded longitudinally to form a U-shaped glass channel insert, which can be sliced transversely at intervals along its back side to permit bending of the insert to follow the curved edges of windows.

Abstract: An intelligent, portable printer is provided having a controller and a printing mechanism. The controller includes a microprocessor which communicates with a terminal, which may be remote from the printer and may include or be a host computer, via cable, radio, or optical interfaces. The terminal supplies application programs and data representing commands and information to be printed. In one embodiment, the controller of the printer can operate the printer mechanism in accordance with received data when the data is preceded by a command addressing the product-type predefined for the printer. In another embodiment, the controller operates responsive to a wake-up signal from the terminal for automatically turning on the printer from a low powered state.

Abstract: A contact cleaning roller (CCR) system includes a shell having an electrostatically active outer surface and being supported by a close-fitting rotatable shaft. The shaft within the shell is provided with a cam groove extending from a first axial location to a second axial location disposed 180.degree. from the first axial location, and then back to the first axial location. A cam follower attached to the inner surface of the shell rides in the cam groove, causing the shell to oscillate axially of the shaft at a frequency of oscillation which is the numerical difference between the rotational frequencies of the shell and shaft. In a preferred embodiment, the CCR shell is nipped against a backing roller, which may be an idle roller or a driven roller, the web passing therebetween in contact with the working surfaces of both rollers.

Abstract: A miniature printer is provided with a printer mechanism in a housing. A thermal printhead is fixedly mounted in the mechanism. The mechanism and the housing define a compartment for a roll of paper which is loosely disposed in the housing and is extended over the thermal printhead. The compartment is closed by a cover hinged to the housing at one end thereof. A platen roller is located in the cover in an opening larger than the shaft of the roller, which opening and cover provides a floating mount for the platen roller. A driven gear which rotates the platen roller is mounted on the shaft near one end thereof. A pair of hairpin springs have ends which are located in the path which the platen roller takes as the cover is closed and moves into engagement with the platen roller.

Abstract: A scanning ophthalmoscope scans an object plane in the interior of the eye by employing a first spatial light modulator to generate a time-varying first modulation pattern. A second spatial light modulator receives the illumination field generated by the interaction of the first modulation pattern with the interior of the eye. The second spatial light modulator generates a second modulation pattern corresponding to the first modulation pattern and transmits this second modulation pattern to an image detector, thereby forming an image of the object plane in the interior of the eye. The first and second spatial light modulators are linked by a function or mapping such that a modulation pattern generated by the first spatial light modulator maps to a particular modulation pattern generated by the second spatial light modulator.

Abstract: An intelligent, portable printer having a microprocessor controller, a printing mechanism, and a web feed mechanism integrated into an assembly which, together with a battery pack, may weigh about 1.5 pounds and be about 60 cubic inches in volume. The web may have removable labels adhesively attached to a liner, or it may be linerless label stock with exposed adhesive, or it may be non-adhesive plain paper stock. The web may be printed with bar codes, graphics, text, or lines. Because the printer is so small and light in weight, it may be used at any site where labels are required. By labels is meant any tickets, stickers, or other patches (so-called "label-stock"). The controller includes a microprocessor which communicates interactively with a terminal, which may be remote from the printer and may include or be a host computer, via cable, radio, or optical interfaces. The terminal supplies application programs and data representing the information to be printed.

Abstract: An array system, which provides a unipolar acoustic impulse with a broad spectral response underwater, utilizes a vertical array of airgun or electrical spark sources whose individual peak source strengths are essentially constant over the array length, but whose individual source periods vary with depth. The array of sources produces in each instance a near-unipolar, impulsive signature with a broad pedestal-like spectrum. The system may be used for underwater object location and also for seismic exploration.

Abstract: An improved system for cellular surgery which includes a laser for producing a laser beam, and confocal optics for scanning and focusing the laser beam in tissue and generating confocal images of the tissue in accordance with returned light from the tissue. The confocal images are visualized on a display. The system includes a controller for enabling the operator to select one or more cells of the tissue in the displayed confocal images for surgical treatment. The controller operates the laser and confocal optics in a first mode to treat the tissue when the confocal optics focus the laser beam at at least one region associated with the selected cells in the tissue, but at all other times operates the laser and confocal optics in a second mode which does not damage the tissue.