Abstract: Provided is a method for providing a One-Time-Password by an OTP device that when configured establishes a communication session between the OTP device and a card embedding a biometric sensor, sends to the card, a request to get a cryptographic value computed from an identifier of the card, tries to authenticate a user through said biometric sensor and automatically releasing the cryptographic value in case of success only, sends the cryptographic value from the card to the OTP device, checks, by the OTP device, the cryptographic value by using a reference value, and provides the One-Time-Password by the OTP device only in case of success. Other embodiments disclosed.

Abstract: A probe for analyzing the characteristics of the medium surrounding an unsleeved borehole including an elongated magnet; a ring of first magnetometers surrounding a substantially central portion of the magnet; second magnetometers connected to the magnet and arranged at a distance therefrom which is sufficient for the influence of the magnet field not to be perceptible; and means for processing the signals from the first and second magnetometers.

Abstract: In various embodiments, apparatus and methods of operating the apparatus are provided to determine existence and location of parasitic stress threes on a rod portion, the rod portion made of a magnetostrictive material and having a hollow tube. The apparatus may include a device comprising an envelope made of a non-magnetic material, a magnetic field source disposed inside the envelope, a motor to set the magnetic field source in rotational motion on the inside of the envelope, and a sensor to measure a value of the magnetic field and to deliver a signal representative of the value of the magnetic field. Operation of the apparatus may include penetration of the envelope into a portion of the hollow tube of the rod portion and translation of the envelope along the portion of the hollow tube. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Abstract: The invention relates to a probe for analysing an assembly of rods including an elongate housing (1) supporting at a first end a permanent magnet (5), the north-south axis of which is parallel to the axis of the rods and, in a position sufficiently separated from said magnet, a set of magnetometers (7) for detecting axial, radial and tangential components of the magnetisation of the rods.

Abstract: An apparatus comprising a probe having an elongated probe casing includes a magnetometer and a permanent magnet having a north-south magnetic axis disposed in an orientation relative to a longitudinal axis of a drill string or pipe casing when the probe is inserted into the drill string or the pipe casing. The permanent magnet is disposed in a non-vertical plane that does not contain the longitudinal axis to induce a magnetic field in the plane from the north of the magnetic axis to the south of the magnetic axis along a portion of a circumference of the drill string or the pipe casing. The magnetometer is to detect magnetization of the drill string or the pipe casing independently of movement of the permanent magnet. Additional apparatus and methods of analysis using the apparatus are disclosed.

Abstract: In various embodiments, apparatus and methods of operating the apparatus are provided to determine existence and location of parasitic stress threes on a rod portion, the rod portion made of a magnetostrictive material and having a hollow tube. The apparatus may include a device comprising an envelope made of a non-magnetic material, a magnetic field source disposed inside the envelope, a motor to set the magnetic field source in rotational motion on the inside of the envelope, and a sensor to measure a value of the magnetic field and to deliver a signal representative of the value of the magnetic field. Operation of the apparatus may include penetration of the envelope into a portion of the hollow tube of the rod portion and translation of the envelope along the portion of the hollow tube. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods for determining the existence and location of parasitic stress-inducing forces on a substantially cylindrical rod portion defined along a first axis and when this rod is made of a magnetostrictive material. The method according to the invention is essentially characterized in that it consists in magnetizing the wall of the rod portion in a pseudo-helix 10 centered on the first axis, in applying a forced stress between the two ends of the rod portion, in measuring, along the rod portion, the magnitude of the magnetic field created by the rod portion after it has been subjected to the forced stress, these measurements being taken in a direction substantially parallel to the first axis, and from these measurements, in deducing the existence and location of the parasitic stress-inducing forces on the rod portion. The invention also relates to a device for implementing this method.

Abstract: The invention concerns the methods for determining, relative to a point Po, the location of a fixing point Pf of a rod T located in an environment Mi wherein prevails a permanent magnetic field Ch. The inventive method is characterized in that it consists in studying the variations of the magnetic flux which passes through the windows F when the rod is and is not subjected to a torque about its axis A, said windows having substantially the same area and being connected to the rod T respectively in different points Px, Px+1, . . . located on the portion of the rod delimited by the assumed site of the fixing point Pf, and including the point Po, and having each a given position relative to the magnetic field lines of force when the rod is not subjected to the torque. The invention also concerns a device for implementing said method. The invention is advantageously applicable to determining the location of the sticking point of a string of hollow drill rods in an oil well.

Abstract: Various embodiments comprise a probe for analysis of a collection of rods or tubes, including an elongated casing which bears, at a first end, at least one first magnetometer and, at a position sufficiently remote from the magnetometer, a permanent magnet, the north-south axis of which may be perpendicular to the axis of the rods. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Abstract: The invention concerns a probe for analysis of a collection of rods or tubes comprising an elongated casing which bears, at a first end, at least one first magnetometer and, at a position sufficiently remote from the magnetometer, a permanent magnet, the north-south axis of which is perpendicular to the axis of the rods.

Abstract: The invention relates to a shoulder mechanism for an orthosis, providing a ball type joint between a support and an orthosis upper arm, comprising a first intermediate element mounted to pivot on the support about a first pivot axis, a second intermediate element mounted to pivot on the first intermediate element about a second pivot axis, the upper arm being mounted to pivot on the second intermediate element about a third pivot axis. According to the invention, the first pivot axis extends in a longitudinal horizontal direction, the first intermediate element including a circular rail on which the second intermediate element slides and that presents a geometrical axis defining the second pivot axis that extends vertically when the upper arm is at rest, the circular rail extending to go around the shoulder on the outside.

Abstract: A gamma monitoring apparatus and method for measuring water equivalent of snowpack over a selected ground area. A detector unit is installed at a given height above the area. The detector unit has a collimator and a scintillator coupled to a photomultiplier tube for detecting gamma rays emitted by naturally radioactive elements present in soil under the snowpack and absorbed by the snowpack in a field of view defined by the collimator. Pulses in a signal produced by the photomultiplier tube are measured and those exceeding threshold energy levels in a number of energy windows are registered as gamma counts. The water equivalent of the snowpack is periodically computed as functions of the gamma counts in the energy windows and the height of the detector unit with respect to ground level. The data representing the computed water equivalent are stored and controllably transmitted for reporting. Soil moisture content is also determinable.

Abstract: The invention concerns the methods for determining, relative to a point Po, the location of a fixing point Pf of a rod T located in an environment Mi wherein prevails a permanent magnetic field Ch. The inventive method is characterized in that it consists in studying the variations of the magnetic flux which passes through the windows F when the rod is and is not subjected to a torque about its axis A, said windows having substantially the same area and being connected to the rod T respectively in different points Px, Px+1, . . . located on the portion of the rod delimited by the assumed site of the fixing point Pf, and including the point Po, and having each a given position relative to the magnetic field lines of force when the rod is not subjected to the torque. The invention also concerns a device for implementing said method. The invention is advantageously applicable to determining the location of the sticking point of a string of hollow drill rods in an oil well.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods for determining the location of the sticking point Pc of a hollow rod or pipe 1 located in a shaft 30 subjected to the Earth's magnetic field, the point Pc being located in a part 3 defined between two points H and B of the pipe. The method according to the invention is essentially characterized in that it consists in continuously performing via the inside 2 of pipe 1, a first measurement of the magnetic field inside the part 3 of the pipe, by indexing it relative to the distance to one of the two points H and B, in applying a mechanical stress to the pipe at one of the two points H, B, in performing a second measurement of the Earth's magnetic field inside the part 3 of the pipe, by indexing it relative to the distance to one of the two points H and B, and in comparing the results R1-R2 of the two measurements in order to determine the location of the point Pc. The invention also relates to a device for implementing this method.

Abstract: The invention concerns a probe for analysis of a collection of rods or tubes comprising an elongated casing which bears, at a first end, at least one first magnetometer and, at a position sufficiently remote from the magnetometer, a permanent magnet, the north-south axis of which is perpendicular to the axis of the rods.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods for determining the existence and location of parasitic stress-inducing forces on a substantially cylindrical rod portion 1 defined along a first axis 2 and when this rod is made of a magnetostrictive material. The method according to the invention is essentially characterized in that it consists in magnetizing the wall of the rod portion in a pseudo-helix 10 centred on the first axis 2, in applying a forced stress between the two ends 3, 4 of the rod portion 1, in measuring, along the rod portion, the magnitude of the magnetic field created by the rod portion 1 after it has been subjected to the forced stress, these measurements being taken in a direction substantially parallel to the first axis 2, and from these measurements, in deducing the existence and location of the parasitic stress-inducing forces on the rod portion 1. The invention also relates to a device for implementing this method.

Abstract: A gamma monitoring apparatus and method for measuring water equivalent of snowpack over a selected ground area. A detector unit is installed at a given height above the area. The detector unit has a collimator and a scintillator coupled to a photomultiplier tube for detecting gamma rays emitted by naturally radioactive elements present in soil under the snowpack and absorbed by the snowpack in a field of view defined by the collimator. Pulses in a signal produced by the photomultiplier tube are measured and those exceeding threshold energy levels in a number of energy windows are registered as gamma counts. The water equivalent of the snowpack is periodically computed as functions of the gamma counts in the energy windows and the height of the detector unit with respect to ground level. The data representing the computed water equivalent are stored and controllably transmitted for reporting. Soil moisture content is also determinable.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the processes and devices for assessing the permeability of a rock medium 1 containing a fluid 2 in its interstices 3. The device and the process according to the invention are characterized essentially in that a given magnetic field is applied to the interstitial fluid 2 located in the rock medium 1, the variation in pressure of the interstitial fluid 2 resulting from the application of the magnetic field is measured, and the permeability of the rock medium is determined as a function of the value of the variation in pressure of the interstitial fluid.

Abstract: A device for evaluating the density of protons present in a given body with the possibility of identifying the material forming part of the constitution of the body and to which the protons belong. The device includes a permanent magnet having north and south poles, the magnet presenting a longitudinal axis of symmetry and a plane of symmetry perpendicular to the axis; two coils disposed at opposite ends of the magnet, centered on the axis, and symmetrical about the plane; a radio frequency electricity generator connected to the two coils in such a manner that the radio frequency electric current feeds the two cols so that the faces of the two coils respectively facing the two poles of the permanent magnet are of the same magnetic kind; and a receiver connected to the two cols to analyze the electrical signals delivered at the output of the two coils when the generator is disconnected from the two coils.

Abstract: Methods and devices for determining the quality of an oil well reserve or the like delivering a given fluid derived from a productive layer, by measuring the response R of the well. The method implemented by the device comprises modulating the fluid flow rate (4) in the well (1) by a sinusoidal function with a controllable preventer (5), and measuring the variations in flow rate and pressure of the fluid respectively with a flow meter (7) and a pressure sensor (9), the response Rc of the well (1); if the productive layer comprises a damaged zone having a positive formation damage of non-null thickness, is obtained by the equation (I), and the response Rf of the well; if the productive layer comprises a fracture having a negative formation damage, is obtained by the equation (II). The invention is applicable to oil prospecting.