Abstract: An uninterruptible gas-fired forced hot air furnace utilizes a thermoelectric generator in the path of the hot combusted gas to a heat exchanger. The combusted gas (combustion products) flows through the pipes of the heat exchanger to an exhaust which may lead to the chimney,or direct vent, in the building in which the furnace is located. The thermoelectric generator is also in the path of the forced cold air which also goes to the heat exchanger. The cold air thus picks up heat in the process of cooling the cold junctions of the thermoelectric generator and picks up more heat in the heat exchanger from the combustion products before being ducted into the heating system. The thermoelectric generator cold junctions may be air-cooled by fins connected thereto through which the stream of air from the blower passes or the cold junctions may be cooled by liquid which is circulated through a liquid-to-air heat exchanger.

Abstract: An in-place flush-cleanable mixer system for mixing materials in a vessel. The mixer has an impeller connected to a mixer drive shaft, the impeller and shaft being mounted in an assembly which extends through an opening into the vessel and closes that opening. The assembly has a cylindrical hub with bearings which support the shaft and with an open passageway through which the shaft extends out of an open end of the hub. The open passageway is part of a confinement region which is terminated at its outer end by a confinement shell which separates inner and outer rotors of a magnet coupling. The inner rotor is connected to the mixer shaft, and the outer rotor is connected to a drive shaft. There are no dynamic seals which close the confinement region so that the working materials can be present throughout.

Abstract: An optical character recognition system which automatically reads handwritten characters and the like which do not have to be printed in a special format. Recognition tables derived from the pattern bit map and from a skeleton pixel matrix describe the character in terms of the relative position of the pixels along the borders of the character and provide a plurality of recognition strings, one in each table, for the front and rear views of the character and for the shape of the holes in the character which are opened from the top (as in the numeral four) or opened from the bottom (as in the numeral seven). From the recognition tables, the characters are recognized by searching recognition files containing blocks of successions of lines of code corresponding selectively to the codes in the recognition tables.

Abstract: A miniature scan engine module for bar code reading and data collection systems utilizes a light source and a light collector flexurally supported on a platform which reciprocates on pivots defined by flexures. The light received from the code, as it is scanned, is collected along an optical collector having a surface area approximately equal to the surface area of one side of the scan engine. The optical collector in which the gratings are embedded faces the bar code and pivots with the scanning beam source (a laser diode). A pair of diffraction gratings in a surface of the optical collector which faces away from the code directs the incoming light so that it propagates internally in a substrate within the body of the collector, i.e. in the optic itself to photodetectors via reflective and light concentrating surfaces over the photodetector.

Abstract: In order to avoid the use of complex transform and correlation techniques for estimating the velocity of a target from which ultrasonic RF bursts are received as return echoes, the time of occurrence of successive returns are compared with a plurality of delay trajectories each representing a different target velocity. The trajectory with which the returns match with minimum variance, or maximum likelihood of being in time coincidence, provides an estimate of the velocity of the target. In different embodiments the RF return, the envelope of the return or the quadrature components thereof are processed to determine to which delay trajectory they are most proximal. The search for the delay trajectory is called a "butterfly search" in two dimensions (slow time or transmitted pulse repetition periods and fast time or range). Each butterfly line corresponds to a distinct linear velocity.

Abstract: A method for analyzing fluids, particularly the solute concentration in liquids which are dense or viscous and are only slightly transparent to light, which utilizes an attenuated total reflectance cell with a curved-path optical wave guide, particularly an optical fiber, the wave guide having a portion of its surface interfacing with the fluid to be analyzed. The wave guide has selected dimensions and properties including bend radius, waveguide radius, index of refraction, and effective light path which optimize the measurement. The optimum wave guide dimensions and wavelength of light are selected through calibration of the ATR device with a plurality of fluids of known composition. Light is transmitted through the wave guide and is attenuated by partial reflectance within the wave guide due to absorbance by the fluid being analyzed. The attenuated transmittance is related to optical absorbance, which is correlated directly to concentration of solute.

Abstract: To enhance the effectiveness of personnel conducting inventory management functions, including data entry of information for products as to their presence, absence, or location, the operator-user is provided with a small and lightweight lapel data entry terminal which can be comfortably worn on a lapel of the operator's clothing, and which can be used to enter data into a remote data center. The lapel data entry terminal provides for acquisition and entry of data derived from verbal pronouncement of code data into a microphone which is coupled to a transmitter through a speech or voice recognition sub-assembly and an analog-to-digital converter sub-assembly. The lapel terminal provides for acquisition and entry of data derived from optical scanning of codes affixed to objects, for example, optical bar code patterns. Such optical codes are read by an optical code reader whose signal output is also coupled to the transmitter.

Abstract: A sampler having a pneumatically actuated scoop closes an opening in the bottom of a pipe containing an auger. The scoop swings through particulate material, (especially granular and/or powdered coal) as it is discharged from a belt of a feeder at the transition between where the coal is carried on the belt and where it falls over the end pulley around which the belt is entrained. The scoop extends across the full width of the belt and captures a sample of the material in the pipe where it is delivered by the auger to a discharge port. A valve connected to the discharge port maintains the pressure integrity of the feeder (at pressure above atmospheric pressure).

Abstract: In order to control laser beam propagation, working range and beam cross-section in a bar code scanner, diffractive optics are used to modify the amplitude and/or phase distribution of the beam in the scanner. The beam is diffracted by a mask which has a plurality of apertures in the form of segments which are arranged across the beam cross-section in the vicinity of a converging lens. The segments are sized and their transmission functions selected (one segment having for example 100% transmission and the other 50% transmission) such that bar codes close in and far out from the scanner are in regions of far field diffraction of different segments, or where such regions overlap, thereby extending the working range of the scanner where bar codes of high density can be resolved.

Abstract: A false bar code inhibitor circuit includes a detector, a signal restore circuit, a comparator, a software controller, and a high impedance clamp circuit. Basically, the detector circuit detects the first transition from either high to low reflectivity or low to high reflectivity. The transition triggers the signal restore circuit which is set for a time constant which is longer than the longest possible time needed to encounter another transition during a valid bar code read. Each time a transition is encountered, the signal restore circuit is triggered. The externally adjustable comparator circuit compares the output from the signal restore circuit against a limit, which can be adjusted by the software controller. The output of the comparator drives a clamp which controls when the bar code digitizer can pass an output. With the software controller, the output of the comparator can be controlled allowing for control over the digitizer output.

Abstract: A peristaltic action pump filler includes a frame for supporting an elongate fill tube. A carriage member is mounted to the frame for reciprocating translation therealong. The carriage member includes a pair of pivotably mounted and oppositely disposed roller assemblies. The roller assemblies are interconnected to the carriage member such that, dependant upon the direction the carriage member is being translated, they are caused to pivot toward or away from the elongate fill tube which is supported therebetween. A valve mechanism is mounted to the support frame and coupled to fill the tube. The valve mechanism is interconnected to the carriage member so as to govern the amount of material discharged therefrom.

Abstract: An electromagnetically actuated friction welder produces orbital motion at interfaces between parts (usually of thermoplastic material) to bond the parts by fusion generated by friction. This welder can also be operated alternatively to produce reciprocating vibratory forces thereby providing flexibility as to the selection of an orbital or reciprocating mode, depending upon the joint to be welded. The velocity of motion is controllable preferably around the resonant frequency of the driven structure by adjusting the frequency of the AC power which operates the electromagnetic drive motor of the welder. A plate which carries one of the parts to be welded and which is driven is flexurally mounted for movement in an orbital plane or planes containing the interfaces without substantial tilting by an array of stiff members, such as rods, located around the drive motor, attached to the plate at one end and to a tubular structure at the opposite ends thereof.

Abstract: A glassy thermotropic chiral nematic liquid crystalline composition comprises a glassy chiral nematic compound of low molar mass that includes a cycloaliphatic radical, a nematogenic moiety, and a chiral moiety, or a mixture of a nematic liquid crystalline compound of low molar mass that includes a cycloaliphatic radical and a nematogenic moiety and a chiral compound of low molar mass that includes a cycloaliphatic radical and a chiral moiety. Each cycloaliphatic radical contains 4 to about 18 carbon atoms. An optical device is formed from the described glassy thermotropic chiral nematic liquid crystalline composition.

Abstract: A machine for harvesting onions utilizes a blower which provides a stream of air through a duct, having an opening across which the onions pass and are topped. The blower has a bladed fan in a cylindrical housing open at both ends. The fan blades are supported by arms which, with the blades, define a support truss for each blade in the form of a triangular structure, having arms meeting at an apex connected approximately midway of the end of the cylindrical housing and a base provided by the blade to which the arms are connected. A rigid support is provided together with an enlarged and substantially unobstructed intake passageway for air along the axis of rotation of the fan which is pressurized and forced through the duct, using less horsepower and fuel than conventional fans of like size and air flow.

Abstract: Multiple video boards of the general purpose type (e.g. EGA or VGA boards) and their associated monitors are operated by a single computer of the personal computer type, without modification of the computer hardware and while the video boards reside in their usual expansion slots which are provided by connectors on the mother board of the personal computer by a system which utilizes a flexible printed circuit board containing circuits which allows the processor (CPU) of the computer to present address and data signals which operate circuitry on the flexible boards to selectively enable or inhibit the communication of control signals (on the I/O and memory read and write control lines) to the video boards thereby enabling them to generate graphical images for their associated monitors.

Abstract: An articulated tracked vehicle for agricultural harvesting which reduces damage to fields and can be driven on paved roads at reasonable speeds. The vehicle has front and rear elements, linked by an articulating joint which permits turning and rotation of one element with respect to the other. Each element is motivated by a pair of tracked power units which are hydraulically driven by a heavy duty differential between the units. Each power unit is rotatably mounted solely on a shaft sleeve of the differential and is free to oscillate vertically and independently to absorb irregularities in its path. Each unit includes an endless elastomeric track which has two rows of lugs on its inner surface. A novel drive mechanism engages these lugs to motivate the vehicle. A sealed transmission housing in each power unit protects key drive elements from environmental damage without interfering with operation of the unit.

Abstract: A chromatic aberration-corrected optical system for broad-band through-the-lens (TTL) imaging and position detection of alignment marks deposed on a substrate located at the exposure plane of an exposure apparatus, for example, a stepper machine, uses a first projection lens capable of focusing a first broad-band alignment illumination and a second exposure illumination onto the substrate. A second achromat lens and a third refractive/diffractive hybrid lens are configured and designed to provide, in conjunction with the first projection lens, longitudinal and lateral chromatic aberration correction over a wavelength range from about 550-650 nm of the broad-band alignment illumination.