Abstract: A display panel comprises a gas-filled envelope made up of a base plate and a face plate sealed together hermetically. The base plate is provided with a plurality of parallel, longitudinal slots in its top surface, and vertical slots in its end edges, and an anode wire is disposed in each of the longitudinal slots in the base plate, and they are recessed in the edge slots and terminate at pins secured to the bottom surface of the base plate. Cathode electrodes are provided on the base plate, and they also terminate at pins secured to the bottom surface of the base plate. With this arrangement, panels can be butted end to end to provide a longer line of characters than one panel alone.

Abstract: A method of making a display panel comprising the steps of providing a glass base plate with an array of slots and securing an anode electrode in each slot; forming parallel depressions in one surface of a thin sheet of metal, and then securing it to the top surface of the base plate, with the unetched surface up and the depressions down, and then removing the material of the unetched surface of the metal sheet down to the depressions to form separate strips of metal as cathodes, on the top surface of the base plate; and finally assembling the other electrodes and parts of the panel with the base plate carrying the anode and cathode electrodes.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for drilling holes with a laser comprising a support member carrying an insulating sheet which supports a metal plate in which holes are to be drilled by a laser. The insulating sheet serves to blow molten metal out of the holes as they are formed and prevents metal from depositing on the plate around the holes.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a glass composition including PbO, SiO.sub.2, B.sub.2 O.sub.3, BaO, ZnO, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and Na.sub.2 O. The glass is used as an insulating layer in gas-filled display panels including an electrode which is insulated from the gas therein.

Abstract: A method of preparing a surgical vascular graft wherein a length of graft material carries an absorbed coating of tridodecyl methyl ammonium chloride (TDMAC) surfactant and an antibiotic bound thereto. A length of graft material such as polytetrafluoroethylene or Dacron is soaked in a 5% by weight solution of TDMAC for 30 minutes at room temperature, air dried and then washed in distilled water to remove excess TDMAC. The graft carrying the absorbed cationic TDMAC surfactant coating is incubated in a solution of negatively charged antibiotic for one hour, washed in sterile water to remove unbound antibiotic and stored for use in the operating room.

Abstract: A display panel comprises a gas-filled envelope made up of a base plate and a face plate sealed together hermetically. The base plate is provided with a plurality of parallel, longitudinal slots, and an anode wire is disposed in each of the slots in the base plate. An array of identical metal strip electrodes are provided on the base plate at an angle to the anode wires to define operative gas cells therewith. The first strip electrode is operated as a keep-alive anode with respect to two auxiliary electrodes seated in slots in the base plate, the second strip electrode is operated as a reset cathode, and the other strip electrodes are operated as the scan/display cathodes for the panel.

Abstract: A screenable ink for forming conductors in a gas-filled display panel including aluminum and an aluminum alloy as important constituents and a panel including such conductors as reinforcing transparent conductive films.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a method and system for scanning all of the cells of a dynamic memory at selected increasing time intervals. The apparatus includes first and second counters coupled to a comparator, the output of which triggers the operation of the scanning apparatus.When the system is turned on, the count in both counters is the same, and a signal appears at the output of the comparator to trigger the scanner. If no error appears in the memory, the first counter is incremented by a selected first count, and then the second counter is incremented from zero until its count equals that in the first counter, and, again, an output from the comparator triggers the scanner. Again, if no error appears in the memory, the first counter is incremented by a second greater count, which represents a larger time interval, and the second counter is incremented from zero until its count equals that entered in the first counter, and the comparator again energizes the scanner.

Abstract: A display panel and method of operating it wherein the panel includes columns of both scan cells and display cells which alternate with columns of only scan cells, and the columns of scan cells are scanned more rapidly than the columns of scan and display cells.

Abstract: This invention is directed to the making of an electrode assembly which comprises providing anode electrodes on one surface of a photosensitive glass plate, providing cathode electrodes on the opposite surface of said glass plate oriented transversely to said anode electrodes, and dissolving away the plate material in alignment with said anode electrodes forming slots extending between the surfaces of said plate, thereby placing said anode and cathode electrodes in operative relation with each other.

Abstract: The disclosure is of eye irrigating apparatus comprising a scissors mechanism having two blades, between which a tubular body is positioned, through which an irrigating fluid can flow into the eye from a fluid source.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a display panel comprising a gas-filled envelope having a first portion including an array of D.C. gas discharge cells, and a second portion including an array of quasi A.C. gas discharge cells, there being one A.C. cell for each D.C. cell. The A.C. cells are the display cells of the panel and include electrode means for sustaining glow therein, and the D.C. cells are operated in a scanning fashion to address selected A.C. cells in which glow is to be displayed, and they include electrode means for this purpose. The actual operation of addressing or selecting, and firing or turning off, the desired A.C. display cells is achieved by the controlled interaction of the D.C. and A.C. cells; and after the selected display cells have been fired and caused to exhibit visible glow, the glow is sustained, until being erased, by the electrodes associated with the A.C. cells.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a system for operating a dot matrix display panel including elongated anodes and cathodes oriented transversely to each other to define columns of D.C. scanning cells. An array of quasi A.C. display cells is provided spaced from the D.C. scan cells by an apertured electrode plate. Operation of the D.C. scan cells to transfer glow from a scan cell to an associated display cell is achieved by momentarily turning off the scan cell by the application of a negative pulse to its anode. To prevent the coupling of this pulse to adjacent anodes and spurious operation of adjacent scan cells and display cells, a counter-balancing positive pulse is applied to all anodes. The preferred coupling circuitry includes coupling capacitors which can pass both of these positive and negative pulses.

Abstract: The disclosure is of conveyor belt tracking apparatus comprising an endless conveyor belt having a right edge and a left edge and supported on rollers on which the belt is driven along a predetermined path. First and second rollers are provided under the belt adjacent to the left and right edges and sensing switches are provided adjacent to the left and right edges. The sensing switches are coupled to and turn on a motor having a drive shaft whose direction of rotation pivots the first and second rollers in the proper direction to bear against the belt to move it to the right or left to compensate for undesired belt movement to right or the left and to return the belt to the predetermined path.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a vacuum fixture comprising a pair of plates having a vacuum space between them and with a plurality of suction holes in one plate providing communication between said vacuum space and the outside world. A handle is secured to the plates, and the handle includes tubing coupled to the vacuum space and a control valve for applying suction force to the vacuum space and to a sheet or body supported on the one plate and held down thereon by the suction force.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a display panel which contains a plate having two arrays of accurately dimensioned slots in which electrodes are disposed. The first array of shallow slots are formed in the plate by an etching process, and the second array of deeper slots are formed in the plate by an etching or grinding process. Electrodes are seated in the slots to form an array of rows and columns of cells.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a fixture for forming an assembly of parallel wires comprising a frame formed to define an open central space, the frame carrying two sets of spaced-apart pins around which a wire is wound to form the desired individual parallel wires. The pins are slanted to insure proper seating of the individual wires on the frame, and, in each set, the pins are aligned on a slanted line to facilitate the winding operation. The frame also carries rectangular pins to which the winding wire can be easily secured at the beginning and end of a winding operation.

Abstract: The display panel comprises a gas-filled envelope made up of a base plate and a face plate. The base plate carries a plurality of display cathodes arrayed in rows and columns and, substantially coplanar therewith, a plurality of scan cathodes arrayed in rows and columns, with each row of scan cathodes being positioned between two rows of display cathodes. A single anode is formed on the face plate of the envelope, and suitable masking is provided so that a viewer can see only the display cathodes through the face plate. In operation of the panel, the scan cathodes are energized column-by-column, and selected adjacent display cathodes are energized simultaneously to display a message or character.

Abstract: A display device comprising a panel structure including a plurality of gas-filled cells and including, within the body of the panel, gas communication channels extending between selected cells to provide a selective flow of excited gaseous particles from certain cells to others to prime the receiving cells and thereby control the transfer of glow between the cells.