Abstract: A system is provided for positioning a pair of electrodes on either side of the end portion of an optical fiber extending through a contact, to establish an arc through a cross-aperture in the contact and across the fiber to melt the fiber into a lens, which assures close control of the arc and which prolongs the life of the electrodes. The tips of the electrodes are positioned to lie slightly within opposite ends of the cross-aperture, to avoid establishing an arc between the electrodes which passes around the contact instead of through the cross-aperture. The electrodes are spaced apart by at least about eight times the diameter of the optic fiber, to avoid deposition of vapors from the heated optic fiber onto the electrodes. The cross-aperture extends to the tip of the contact, so the contact can be moved along its axis to a position where the electrodes lie on opposite sides of the fiber end portion.

Abstract: This control circuit adjusts two signal waveforms to a phase difference of exactly 90.degree. and to exactly equal amplitudes of the respective frequency components. It is a digital circuit containing a phase control stage (pr) and an amplitude control stage (ar). The control circuit (r) delivers first and second quadrature signals (q1, q2) which are multiplied together to obtain a phase control value (p) which is multiplied by one of the digitized quadrature analog signals and added vectorially to the second digital signal. The two signals thus brought to a phase difference of exactly 90.degree. are the two phase-corrected digital signals (p1, p2). In the amplitude control stage (ar), one of the two phase-corrected digital signals (p2, p1) is multiplied by the amplitude control value (g) from the amplitude comparator (av1, av2), and the product is the amplitude- and phase-corrected quadrature signal (q2, q1) belonging to the other quadrature signal (q1, q2).

Abstract: An optic fiber connection system is provided which enables the forming of a lens or bead at the end of an optic fiber by an electric arc established between a pair of electrodes, which avoids degradation of the electrodes with use. The contact has a forward portion with a hole along its axis for receiving the optic fiber, and a cross aperture extending perpendicular to the hole to receive the end of the optic fiber. The forward portion of the contact is formed of a ceramic or other high melting temperature dielectric, to allow the electrodes to be widely spaced to avoid their degradation, without shorting out the electric arc.

Abstract: A coupling for connecting an optical fiber cable to an electro-optical device which is suitable for both single and multi-channel applications. The coupling utilizes a standard connector contact which is releasably mounted in the coupling by means of a contact retention clip. An O-ring is mounted in the coupling between a shoulder in the contact cavity and a shoulder on the contact which prevents the forward mating end of the contact from damaging the active face of the electro-optical device in the coupling, and prevents longitudinal rattle of the contact.

Abstract: A line rotation encoder for use with cable or pay television systems includes a storage unit having a storage capacity large enough to store only a single digitized video horizontal line of information, an address counter coupled to the storage unit and split-address circuitry for setting the address counter to an initial value. A comparator unit coupled to the address counter provides an end of line signal. As each encoded video sample is read out from a storage location addressed by the address counter, a digitized sample for a subsequent horizontal video line overwrites the value previously read out. When the encoded line has been completely read out, the next line is already stored in the storage unit.

Abstract: A capsule for the controlled release of an active material, e.g. into soil, is described. The capsule comprises an insoluble tubular housing (11) containing a number of water soluble or biodegradable partition walls (13) defining one or more hermetically sealed compartments, (12) filled with the active material (14), e.g. an insecticide. When the capsule is in contact with water or an aqueous medium the partition walls (13) slowly dissolve or degrade thus releasing the active material after a predetermined delay.

Abstract: A monolithic integrated digital-to-analog converter makes use of rotating current-source control (dynamic element matching). After the conversion of a digital input signal into a code containing a sequence of first binary conditions corresponding to the numerical value of the input signal (so-called thermometer code), the bit switches of possibly same-sized current sources are rotatingly controlled in the sense of being selected, so that it becomes possible in the manufacture of the monolithic integrated digital-to-analog converters to balance out the manufacturing tolerances or process variations of the current sources.

Abstract: A frequency converter circuit for television signals is disclosed which contains a tuner and a low-IF converter which converts the television signal to a low IF signal to obtain adjacent-channel selectivity with low-pass filters. The low-IF converter further includes a phase-correcting stage and an amplitude-correcting stage for the two quadrature-signal paths. By digitizing the two signal paths after the first quadrature mixing process, their amplitude and phase stability is further improved.

Abstract: An integrable circuit arrangement for deriving a coincidence pulse on coincidences of the falling edges of pulses of a digital data signal with the falling edges of pulses of sampling signals obtained by frequency division and gating and intended for use in a digital data processing system is disclosed which requires little area on an integrated-circuit chip. It contains an input gate consisting of a first NOR gate and a second NOR gate which are cross-coupled. The sampling signal is applied to the first input of the second NOR gate, and one of the system clock signals to the first input of the first NOR gate. The first input of a third NOR gate is connected via an inverter to the output of the first NOR gate, while the data signal is applied directly to the second input of the third NOR gate, and the delayed data signal is applied to the third input in inverted form.

Abstract: A multiport memory includes first and second signal lines. Each signal line can simultaneously and independently access a particular address during a read memory portion of a clock pulse whereas both signal lines are used to write data to one address during another portion of the clock pulse.

Abstract: The frequency conversion of an RF signal is performed by the "third method" using a suitable frequency reversal which makes the frequencies of the picture carrier, the chrominance subcarrier, and at least one sound carrier appear transformed into the baseband, such that the frequencies of the transformed picture carrier and the transformed chrominance subcarrier coincide. Unavoidable differences in the signal paths of the frequency reversal result in a spurious signal which produces a temporally/locally varying moire on the screen. By means of a frequency offset, this spurious signal is transformed into a frequency range which is not found annoying by the observer, so that the moire becomes invisible. This frequency range is preferably the exact center region between two spectral lines of the horizontal frequency of the composite color signal in the baseband.

Abstract: The invention includes a method of manufacture of monolithic integrated VLSI circuits comprising bipolar transistors whose base regions are contacted in a self-aligned manner in proximity to the respective emitter regions by the use of silicide layers. The invention starts out from a process which, when using an insulating masking layer portion covering up the emitter area of the planar transistor, permits the self-aligned fabrication of emitter regions extending to the adjoining base region and to the base contacting region. Further embodiments of the process according to the invention permit the simultaneous manufacture of co-integrated CMOS circuits and of polycrystalline. Si-conductor leads whose resistances are reduced owing to the use of silicide layers.

Abstract: A connector is disclosed for making electrical connection between a wire and a cable in which the conductor of the cable is offfset from the center axis of the cable. The connector comprises a contact having a pointed spike on its front face which is offset from the center axis of the contact the same distance as the offset of the conductor of the cable so that the contact can be oriented with its axis concentric with the center axis of the cable, and the spike aligned with the conductor of the cable. The connector also includes a housing which is rotatable with respect to the contact, and has self-threading screw threads on its inner wall which threadedly engage the jacket of the cable to secure the contact against the end of the cable with the spike engaging the cable conductor. The screw threads provide a sealing enagement between the connector housing and the cable jacket.

Abstract: In order to substantially suppress the noise of an integrated constant-voltage source, an integrated circuit includes an RC low-pass filter having its capacitor connected between an external chip terminal and an external ground, while the remainder of the circuit is disposed on the integrated circuit chip. The resistor of the RC low-pass filter is connected to the constant voltage of a constant-voltage source, and the output of the RC low-pass filter is coupled to the base of a transistor connected ahead of emitter-follower transistors as in a Darlington circuit. The supply voltages are obtained from the emitters of the emitter-follower transistors. A constant-current source driven by the output of the RC low-pass filter via a second resistor serves as a sink for a constant current.

Abstract: A monolithic integrated digital circuit including at least one circuit for the serial data processing of multi-digit data signals synchronized to a clock system, the serial data processing circuits using a clock signal coming from a clock oscillator which is also integrated. The clock oscillator includes an odd number of ring-connected inverting stages. The output of the oscillator is provided to a counter. When the counter counts a number of pulses equal to the number of digits of the output signal of the data processing circuit, the counter stops the clock oscillator. The system clock signal is applied to both the reset input of the counter and the synchronizing input of the data processing circuit.

Abstract: A digital delay arrangement generates a delay time which is a noninteger multiple of the period of a system clock frequency. The arrangement includes a digital delay circuit having a delay time equal to the period, a multiplier for the part of the noninteger multiplier, b, being less than one, a further multiplier for 1- b, an adder and a peaking filter clocked by the system clock.

Abstract: A system is provided for forming an end of an optical fiber into a lens, using a high frequency AC electric arc of predetermined frequency, which avoids the creation of harmonic frequencies that could degrade the finished lens. An arc is established between a pair of electrodes, wherein the arc current varies substantially sinusoidally, to minimize the amplitude of harmonic frequencies. Voltage pulses are delivered to a primary of a transformer, while the secondary of the transformer is coupled through a capacitor to one electrode, and the other electrode is coupled back to the secondary of the transformer. The inductance of the secondary winding plus the reflected inductance of the primary winding, when combined with the capacitance, results in a resonant circuit, which generates a sinusoidal output when excited at its resonant frequency. The square waves inputted to the transformer primary are at a frequency approximately equal to the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit.

Abstract: To raise the integration level of a video recorder, and to provide a uniform circuit concept suitable for all three color-television standard (PAL, NTSC, SECAM) which, in particular, requires only slight modifications for adaptation to the respective standard, signal processing is performed by fast digital circuits whose signals are stored on the recording medium not in digital form, but after digital-to-analog conversion. The composite color signal is converted into digital form by a fast analog-to-digital converter (aw) whose sampling signal (fc) has a fixed frequency (Fc) for all three color-television standards. Digital signal processing in the chroma channel is performed at a fixed subcarrier frequency (zt) for all three color-television standards which is an integral subharmonic of the sampling frequency (Fc).

Abstract: A system is described for forming a lens at the end of an optical fiber which extends through a hole in a contact, so the tip of the lens lies at a desired lens position located a predetermined distance rearward of the tip of the contact. The fiber is fixed to the contact at a position wherein the tip of the fiber lies forward of the desired lens position, at about the tip of the contact. The contact is positioned vertically, with the tip of the fiber pointing upwardly, and an arc is passed across the end portion of the fiber, to initially heat and bulge out a location on the fiber spaced rearward of the tip. As the fiber is heated, the tip portion falls into the bulging portion, while the bulging portion moves down, with the heating continued long enough so that the tip of the molten ball of glass lies at the desired lens position.

Abstract: A pushbutton switch having a contact actuating member movable in the direction of actuation, and a restoring spring which is loaded when the actuating member is depressed. A laterally resiliently deflectable detent element engages an inclined cam surface on the actuating member. When the member is depressed, the cam surface moves downwardly over the detent element causing the element to be laterally deflected, thereby releasing the detent mechanism. Thereafter, the actuating member is then free to move on against the force of the restoring spring.