Abstract: A spectrophotometer which is highly manufacturable at minimum cost nevertheless provides precision of measurement of spectra components of light which is projected therein by maintaining precise optical alignment of optical and electrical components thereof. These components are mounted in a module which is contained in a housing having an entrance aperture which defines an object area for light the spectrum of which is measured by a photodetector in the module at an image area. The module has a base plate provided by a printed circuit board on which a closed wall encompasses an area (a corral) on one side of the circuit board. The wall is a one piece structure which extends to the vicinity of the edge of the board. It is assembled with the board as a unitary structure so that the assembly is made torsionally rigid and resists bending in the plane of the board. The module may be of sufficiently small size so as to be located in a housing which is hand held, thereby providing a hand-held spectrophotometer.

Abstract: A visual warning system for a railway vehicle, particularly a locomotive, to illuminate the tracks or the right of way (sometimes called a ditch). The system has a first lamp and a second lamp. The first lamp is driven by a first lamp driver responsive to a first pulse width modulated signal, and the second lamp driver is driven by a second lamp driver responsive to a second pulse width modulated signal. A controller produces the first and second pulse width modulated signals in which the duty cycle of the first and second pulse width modulated signals is varied between high and low levels to alternatively turn the first and second lamps approximately fully on and approximately fully off. To turn each lamp approximately fully on, the controller increases, step-wise, the duty cycle of the lamp's respective pulse width modulated signal from the low level to the high level. The system may further include a switch for operating a horn on the vehicle.

Abstract: An improved device for measuring the interpupillary distance of the eyes of a person is provided. The device has a frame having a first hole which is positionable at the pupil of the person's left eye, and a disk mounted juxtaposed to the frame which is rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the face of the frame. The disk has a plurality of second holes, extending through the disk from its surface, which spiral radially outward on said disk from the axis. By rotating the disk, one of the second holes is viewable through a window in the frame and positionable at the pupil of the person's right eye. The interpupillary distance is equal or approximately equal to the distance between the centers of the first and second holes when the holes are positioned at the respective pupils of the person. Numerals representing this distance appear on the surface of the disk through another window in the frame.

Abstract: A multi-element refractive/diffractive lens system, especially useful in an interferometer of the Fizeau type for forming a partially reflective end of the cavity and focusing collimated laser light at a focus in the cavity, uses a plurality of lens elements all of which are plano concave or plano convex singlets and may be either spherical or cylindrical. The lens has a diffractive element which compensates for aberrations due to the refractive elements of the lens system and enables the lens system to be formed from relatively few refractive elements which are all plano-convex or plano-concave singlets thereby providing cost savings arising out of the reduction in the amount of glass material and number of lens elements. Since the lens system is especially suitable for use in a Fizeau type interferometer, it may be of the type called a Fizeau lens.

Abstract: Pile weatherstripping having rows of pile and longitudinal fins both within and external to the rows of pile. The heights of the fins with respect to the height of the pile may be independently varied and controlled. A travelling endless band receives a pair of first webs providing internal fins on opposite sides of the band. The first webs are indexed to the edges of the band, which defines the heights of the fins. Each web may be independently indexed. Alignment of the webs on the band is provided either by an aligning fixture or by coining the webs to provide lines of indentations which index the webs at the edges of the band. The yarn which forms the pile is wound around the first webs. Second webs providing the external fins are indexed through the yarn and first webs to the edges of the band and are also aligned by a second aligning fixture or by coining. Backing strips are attached, as by ultrasonic welding, along the edges of the band. Then the yarn is slit without cutting into the webs.

Abstract: Pile weatherstripping having rows of pile and longitudinal fins both within and external to the rows of pile. The heights of the fins with respect to the height of the pile may be independently varied and controlled. A travelling endless band receives a pair of first webs providing internal fins on opposite sides of the band. The first webs are indexed to the edges of the band, which defines the heights of the fins. Each web may be independently indexed. Alignment of the webs on the band is provided either by an aligning fixture or by coining the webs to provide lines of indentations which index the webs at the edges of the band. The yarn which forms the pile is wound around the first webs. Second webs providing the external fins are indexed through the yarn and first webs to the edges of the band and are also aligned by a second aligning fixture or by coining. Backing strips are attached, as by ultrasonic welding, along the edges of the band. Then the yarn is slit without cutting into the webs.

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: Flexible, lightweight, compound body armor has multiple protective layers designed to defeat incoming projectiles. The first protective layer has a flexible base layer of penetration-resistant material having, fastened to its surface, facing the exterior, a first matrix of individual hard non-planar elements, the front surface of which is non-planar and shaped such that upon impact on the surface of these individual hard non-planar elements, projectiles would be turned or rotated to change the orientation of said projectiles with respect to the surface of said protective layers in such a manner that instead of the point, the side of a projectile would now be directed toward the subsequent protective layers, thus presenting a much larger area to said subsequent protective layers and therefore distributing the impact energy over a larger area and slowing down further penetration of said projectiles.

Abstract: Protective headwear, comprising:a first head covering for covering at least one portion of a person's head;a second head covering for covering at least one portion of the person's head, at least one portion of said second head covering being within, or adapted to be at least partly within said first head covering, such that the first and second head coverings are in a joint relationship whereby the second head covering is movable relative to the first head covering.

Abstract: A handheld confocal imaging system for in vivo observation of dermal and subdermal tissue allows diagnosis of conditions substantially beneath the surface of the skin. A confocal head has optics which scan the tissue so as to provide images of vertical sections of the tissue. Both two and three dimensional imaging may be provided for diagnosis and location of basal cell carcinomas and melanomas, and so as to enable visualization of tumor borders prior to excision.

Abstract: A portable, rotary power tool includes a guide roller and a special designed cutter mounted to the spindle of the tool. The rotary tool is presented to a lens blank mounted to a lens defining pattern. The guide roller engages and follows the shape defining lens pattern while the special designed cutter contacts and removes material from the lens blank being contoured. The cutter may be square and include a further shape defining cutting surface thereon for providing a bevel to the lens edge. In a further embodiment, a rotary power tool similar to the above device, including the guide roller and cutter, is mounted to a support fixture. The fixture includes a pivoting arm assembly to which a lens blank and lens defining pattern are mounted. The pivot arm assembly is rotatable toward and away from the cutter carried by the rotary tool such that the cutter engages and removes material from the lens blank dependant upon the shape defined by the lens pattern.

Abstract: An improved immersible magnetically-coupled mixer has a plurality of rollable bearing assemblies readily cleanable by flushing in place and easily removable and replaceable without damage to either the mixer impeller or the bearings. The rollable bearings are resistant to corrosion, capable of running without lubrication, and have low propensity for batch contamination through wear. The rolling and fixed elements of the bearings are impervious to attack by the process materials being mixed, the rollable elements, preferably balls, can be formed of a hybrid ceramic such as silicon nitride, and the races can be formed of a nickel-beryllium or cobalt-chromium-tungsten alloy.

Abstract: An improved photodetector integrator circuit is provided having a photodetector, such as a photodiode, which produces photocurrent responsive to incident illumination. The photodetector is coupled to an integrator stage which converts the photocurrent into voltage and integrates the voltage over an integration period to provide an output signal. A window comparator in the circuit receives the output signal from the integrator stage and compares the output signal to a first threshold and a second threshold to provide, as a measurement signal, a pulse having a width which corresponds to the time interval over which the output signal increases from the first threshold to the second threshold. In the window comparator, the second threshold is greater than the first threshold.

Abstract: An automatic mail processing machine includes modular mail processing stations for: 1) stacking and feeding envelopes, 2) weighing envelopes, and 3) applying indicia to the envelopes. The modules of the mail processing machine are linearly disposed with respect to each other. The array of modules configure an automatic mailing machine which requires a small amount of space. The automatic mailing machine may be used to process envelopes of mixed weights and sizes without undue and costly procedures being performed to the machine. The mailing machine may further be utilized to process envelopes of similar sizes and shapes without requiring that each envelope be individually weighed.

Abstract: A system for drawably hanging curtains from a venetian blind headbox mounted on a vertical surface. A tubular attachment is mountable on the headbox and has a tail section having an inner wall of substantially the same height as the height of the headbox, and a projecting lip at the lower edge of the inner wall for retaining the headbox in the attachment without requiring other mounting elements. The attachment has a hanger section having a longitudinal T-shaped slot for receiving a plurality of curtain sliders for movably hanging a first curtain therefrom. Each of a pair of removable end pieces has flanges which are matable within either end of the attachment to retain the curtain sliders in the attachment. Each of the end pieces has at least one saddle for supporting a first curtain rod for movably hanging a second curtain therefrom and a bayonet mount for receiving a second curtain rod for movably hanging a third curtain therefrom.

Abstract: An improved immersible magnetically-coupled mixer has rollable bearings readily cleanable by flushing in place and easily removable and replaceable without damage to either the mixer impeller or the bearings. The rollable bearings are resistant to corrosion, capable of running without lubrication, and have low propensity for batch contamination through wear. The rolling and fixed elements of the bearings are impervious to attack by the process materials being mixed, the rollable elements, preferably balls, being formed of a hybrid ceramic such as silicon nitride, and the races being formed of either a nickel-beryllium or cobalt-chromium-tungsten alloy. A mixer impeller having a central bore is rotatably mounted on the rollable bearings on a fixed impeller shaft attached to the inner wall of a vessel at the bottom of the mixing space, which shaft extends through the impeller bore. The impeller contains magnets and is couplable in driving relationship to an external magnetic mixer drive.

Abstract: Phantoms for testing and measuring the performance of ultrasonic imaging systems have regions of precisely controlled scattering or echogenicity which contain sub-resolvable scatterers. The regions are precisely positioned so as to define patterns which form images from which the performance of the ultrasonic imaging system can be evaluated to assure the quality of the images. The phantoms can reveal the combined influences of all the stages in the imaging chain in terms of modulation transfer function and resolution limits as well as other artifacts and defects in the system such as aliasing and degraded frequency response which cannot be evaluated with conventional ultrasound phantoms. The subresolution scattering regions may be formed by printing them on a thin film sheet or substrate using photo lithography, electrostatic xerographic printing or etching; the toner particles or deposited material forming the scatters being sub-resolvable in size.

Abstract: A master microprocessor downloads program codes to a slave microprocessor which does not require a read-only memory ROM containing any instruction codes. While downloading, the slave microprocessor reads the program instructions to execute from a register, which is written to by the master microprocessor. The execution of these instructions causes the slave microprocessor to write program instructions to its RAM which will be executed later, in normal operation. The slave microprocessor has a handshaked bus which causes it to terminate a read from the register only after the master microprocessor has written to it. Logic, preferably a programmable array logic (PAL) device, decodes addresses and generates the "READY" handshake bus signal for the slave microprocessor. The cost of the slave microprocessor is reduced since a bootloader ROM which may be embedded internal or external to the slave microprocessor integrated circuit chip is not required.

Abstract: A peristaltic driver, also known as an Inchworm.RTM. actuator using stepping, "clamp-extend-clamp", action of a piezoelectric actuator device provides motion in high resolution (steps) of an object, such as a probe of a scanning probe microscope or other optical, electrical and computer elements. The actuator device is an integral body made up of successive pusher and clamping sections. The clamping sections selectively clamp to members which are spaced from each other. An object is moved along a path between the members by being coupled to a pusher section which is disposed in symmetrical relationship with pairs of other pusher sections and pairs of clamping sections. Voltages are applied across the various sections and provide clamping action without transferring net forces in directions along which the object is pushed, thus reducing motion discontinuities each time the clamping sections extend or retract.