Abstract: A method of making a non-toxic toy for a child by cutting a block into the shape of a toy and then placing the toy into a bin of granular paraffin particles followed by tumbling the toy the bin of granular paraffin particles with the granular particles being sufficiently large so as to prevent caking of the particles and sufficiently small so that the paraffin particles can impact on all areas of the toy to produce a paraffin coated toy that is in a ready-to-play with condition when it is removed from the bin of granular paraffin.

Abstract: A resilient, body-conformable heat-retaining body pad for increasing the temperature of a selected portion of the body by retarding both the radiant heat loss and the conductive heat loss from the covered portion of the body. The resilient body conformable heat-retaining body pad includes a first sheet of flexible and inelastic material comprising a cloth-like flexible radiant heat-reflective material which is attached to one side of an elastic layer of thermal conductive insulation. The elastic layer of insulation retards the conductive heat losses from the covered portion of the body as well as provides conformability of the body pad to a user's body by permitting the body pad to be wrapped around a joint and still allow for joint movement of the covered porting of the body.

Abstract: A base plate with an extension which defines a pair of notched seats is secured to the frame of a pivoting door in the gap between the frame and the door. A stop plate, made from a disk of stiff metal plate having an aperture of predetermined shape and with three bent sections that form a hand grip, is initially placed over the extension on the base plate while the door is closed. The stop plate aperture allows the stop plate to be displaced horizontally and downwardly until the section of stop plate defining the opposite end of the aperture lies within the upper notched seat and rests on the base plate. The stop plate confronts the face plane of the door; the door is prevented from opening beyond the door frame by the combination of the stop plate and the base plate.

Abstract: The invention is an automatic gain control (AGC) sampling structure in which a conventional closed loop AGC circuit detects a received level and generates a direct current voltage for controlling an amplification stage. This direct current voltage is sampled and the optimum control voltage is selected from the samples based on the technique of ordered statistics. The conventional AGC control loop is interrupted and the selected control voltage is provided to the amplification stage.

Abstract: The invention is an Automatic Gain Control ("AGC") sampling structure for use with frequency-hopped high frequency waveforms containing known transmitted signals embedded within communications traffic. The sampling structure is a digital structure and an AGC selection algorithm used in conjunction with a standard closed loop analog AGC circuit in which the AGC generator detects the received audio level and generates a direct current control voltage for controlling an amplification stage. This AGC control voltage is sampled during the reception of known transmitted signals to provide a series of independent AGC samples to a digital controller. The digital controller determines th eoptimum AGC control voltage based on a selection algorithm which uses the technique of ordered statistics to select the correct ordered sample to provide the optimum AGC control level for the receiver.

Abstract: The method and system of compressing digital color video data in a video communication system utilizes a digital color video signal having three video color components, and the encoding of the color components as compressed color codes in a series of run length and compressed color code combinations. A look up table of compressed color codes representing the most visually significant combinations of three color components may also be modified by a process which involves the determination of a predetermined number of the most visually significant combinations of color components in a picture frame. Line-to-line differences and movement of edges and segments of the picture frames are determined, and frame-to-frame differences are also encoded to reduce the amount of information to a minimum. Further statistical encoding of at least a portion of the run length and color code combinations is also provided.

Abstract: The method and system of decompressing color video data for use in a video information communication system utilizes digitized run length and color information to represent the pixels in the scan lines of a video picture frame. The digitized signals are of a first digital word size, the run length portion of the digitized signal is of a second digital word size and the color portion of the digitized signal is of a third digital word size. The run length portion and three digital color components data are stored in an array in a memory to represent the pixels in the scan lines of the video picture frame; and the color portion of the digitized signal is converted into three digital color components of fourth, fifth, and sixth digital word sizes.

Abstract: The method and system for decompressing digital color video data utilizes a plurality of digitized signals representing combinations of run lengths and compressed color component codes, and a look up table of the digitally compressed color codes. The digitally compressed color component codes are decoded according to the look up table to form a table of the three digital color components for each run length, and the run lengths and corresponding color components are stored in an array in a buffer memory to represent the scan lines in a video picture frame.

Abstract: The method and system for compressing color video data in a video communication system utilizes a three color digital signal, and involves the determination of a luminance function for each pixel in a series of video picture frames. One or more decision parameters based upon differences of the luminance function between pixels are compared with corresponding adaptive thresholds to determine decision points in the scan lines, and the digital word size of the three digital color components is reduced before encoding of run lengths between decision points of the color values.

Abstract: The method and system of compressing and decompressing digital color video data in a video communication system utilizes a digital color video signal having three video color components, and involves the determination of a predetermined number of the most visually significant combinations of color components in a picture frame, and the encoding of the color components as compressed color codes in a series of run length and compressed color code combinations. Line-to-line differences and movement of edges and segments of the picture frames are determined, and frame-to-frame differences are also encoded to reduce the amount of information to a minimum. Further statistical encoding of at least a portion of the run length and color code combinations is also provided.

Abstract: The method and system of decompressing color video data for use in a video information communication system utilizes digitized run length and color information to represent the pixels in the scan lines of a video picture frame. The digitized signals are of a first digital word size, the run length portion of the digitized signal is of a second digital word size and the color portion of the digitized signal is of a third digital word size. The run length portion and the color portion are stored in an array in a memory to represent the pixels in the scan lines of the video picture frame. The memory consists of a pingpong A buffer memory and a pingpong B buffer memory, from which the run length and color information is transferred to a display drawing engine.

Abstract: The method and system for compressing color video data in a video communication system utilizes a three color digital signal, and involves the determination of a luminance function for each pixel in a series of video picture frames. One or more decision parameters based upon differences of the luminance function between pixels are compared with corresponding adaptive thresholds to determine decision points in the scan lines, and the digital word size of the three digital color components is reduced before encoding of run lengths between decision points of the color values.

Abstract: A boat lift for a berth having permanently positioned piles in pairs spaced apart a distance sufficient to permit the boat to be berthed thereat to move between the paired piles while in the water includes a cradle having fore and aft transverse members upon which the boat is supported out of the water, a first pair of such piles equipped with first sheaves, a second pair of such piles with second sheaves, a third pair of such piles positioned between the first and second pairs adjacent the second second pair, first and second beams carried by the inside and outside piles of the second and third piles, motor driven winch drums supported by the first and second beams, third sheaves carried by the first and second beams, first inside and outside cables reeved respectively from the first and second drums via the first and second sheaves forward to the inside and outside piles of the first pair to lift the fore transverse member of the cradle, and second inside and outside cables reeved from the winch drums via t

Abstract: An infrared detector and imaging system responsive to the scanned image from an objective lens and scanner system, the infrared detector and imaging system comprising: a detector substrate; a sparsely populated staggered detector array formed on the detector substrate, the detector substrate having a focal plane surface receiving the scanned image from the objective lens and scanner system. A clock means provides clock signals. A control signal means is responsive to the clock signal for providing a sequence of predetermined scanner position signals. A servo responsive to each scanner position signal commands the scanner means to locate the scanned image at predetermined positions on the focal plane. A detector signal integration means receives and integrates an array of detector signals from the sparsely populated detector array.

Abstract: An electronic meter is disclosed, for measuring functions such as power and energy of an alternating current and voltage. For measuring electrical energy, the meter includes an analog integrator for computing the integral of the voltage and of the current over a selected period of the voltage waveform. Means including a digital microprocessor and a comparison circuit are provided for generating a voltage level equal to the magnitude of the current integral or the voltage integral. In this manner, the microprocessor determines the value of the voltage or current integral. Since the integral of a sinusoidal waveform is related to its amplitude and to the power factor, the microprocessor can make a computation of energy from the values of the voltage and current integrals.