Abstract: A keyless system especially useful in controlling the doors and trunk of an automobile is disclosed. The overall system usually comprises an input station containing a keyboard, a signal processor, signal amplification means and an electromechanical grouping which converts the electrical output from the amplifier to mechanical movement in control of a lock. The system is activated by a touch control at the input keyboard and with the power section of the system energized, the lock is controlled in response to a proper sequence of digital input signals created by the operator. The input at the control station is described in terms of a keyboard having five selectors and resulting in approximately three thousand possible combinations for the base code. The signal processor responds to correct combinations of digital inputs with a drive signal.

Abstract: A sensor device having a vibratable surface which can be exposed to variousmaterials and used to determine the presence thereof is disclosed. The device includes a sandwich structure comprising a substrate coated with a piezoelectric material, a pickup electrode joined to the piezoelectric and a drive electrode also joined to the piezoelectric. The piezoelectric material is applied to the substrate as a slurry and when dried forms a ceramic coating which is chemically bonded to the substrate. The sensor is electrically driven to vibrate and depending upon the absence or presence of the material to be detected a characteristic vibrational frequency or amplitude of the sensing surface is observed to indicate contact with such material. Various embodiments are discussed including a rectangular configuration which is cantilevered from a support base and a circular configuration which is held circumferentially by the support base.

Abstract: The construction and method of operating a signal generator which provides an electrical output in response to an input mechanism such as a loading by finger are disclosed. The generator has the appearance of a plate and includes a sandwich structure comprising a conductive substrate, a coating of piezoelectric material and usually a plurality of discrete electrodes joined to the exposed surface thereof. The coating is deposited on the substrate as a slurry and is chemically bonded to the substrate. In order to produce an electrical output signal, prescribed locations on the plate are subjected to a force such as can be applied by the touch of a finger and a voltage is generated across the piezoelectric coating between the point of contact on the substrate and the adjacent electrode. The output signal is used either directly or after being amplified to drive various functionally responsive devices.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for mixing fluids which pass through a plurality of fluid passageways arranged as a repeating pattern of clusters which form a geometric array are disclosed. The axes of the passageways are offset from the overall flow axis which is essentially perpendicular to the end plane of the array and each passageway is arranged in a predetermined position. The fluid flows through the passageways with a velocity having two components including a mean flow component which is parallel to the flow axis and a nonaxial component which is perpendicular to the flow axis. Although each nonaxial component for those passageways forming any given cluster acts in a direction different from the others, they interact and cooperate with each other to induce the fluid to swirl in a generally orbital fashion around the flow axis while simultaneously advancing along the flow axis downstream of the array.

Abstract: Active laser mirror systems and methods for achieving near diffraction limited transmission of laser radiation by actively controlling a reflective surface are disclosed. The apparatus involved in the active mirror system includes a mirror having a deformable surface, a plurality of actuators attached at preselected locations to the nonreflecting side of the mirror, a control assembly for performing logic and providing drive signals to the actuators and a sensor system. The method of achieving the improved transmission includes setting the contour of a deformable reflective surface in accordance with predetermined data, reflecting the transmitted beam off the surface enroute to the target, optically monitoring the surface to determine operational changes thereon, computing corrective data, and applying appropriate changes to the mirror surface.

Abstract: Various apparatus and their applications to the determination of the flux of a fluid flowing through a region in accordance with the present invention are disclosed. The technique involved is based on the formation of charged particles within the fluid and subjecting these particles to an electric field which is colinear with the direction of fluid travel. Two charged particle collection stations are established, one upstream and the other downstream of the charged particle formation site and the resulting electric currents through such stations are correlated to the flux of the fluid.

Abstract: A solderless connector for joining the flexible electrical moving leads connecting the voice coil of a loudspeaker to the electrical input terminals located on the loudspeaker frame. The connector supplies electrical continuity between the flexible conductor and the terminal, and mechanically secures the flexible conductor without the need for solder or other mechanical means, thereby improving efficiency of assembly and improving quality by eliminating problems attributable to poor workmanship in soldering operations. These movable leads are known as pigtails, and their length is adjusted to insure long life and to eliminate distortion. A pigtail that is too short will limit cone excursion by becoming taut and introduce distortion into the acoustical output. A short pigtail will also result in early failure of the loudspeaker due to the excessive stress. A pigtail that is too long will also introduce distortion due to the generation of spurious noise.

Abstract: Ceramic dielectric coating compositions are disclosed as well as processes for depositing the coating compositions on a substrate and the coated article resulting therefrom. A ferroelectric or piezoelectric powder material such as the barium titanate type or lead zirconate-titanate type is mixed with a phosphate additive and water to form an acidic flowable mass with a consistency suitable for depositing by various means on a substrate. Depositing means include painting, dipping, spraying, and silk-screen techniques. After deposition on the substrate, the coating composition is dried, preferably at an elevated temperature, to form a composite article of the substrate with an adherent ferroelectric or piezoelectric coating composition thereon.

Abstract: Apparatus for providing ions having a specific electric charge to a stream of working fluid are disclosed. The ions are produced by a variety of techniques in a volume of the working fluid which is maintained in a protected region within the stream. An electric field draws ions away from the production region and makes them available to the stream of fluid. In many applications an independent electric field is applied to the flowing fluid to move the ions within the working fluid.

Abstract: A chemical laser having means for repeatedly circulating the gaseous working medium in a portable, self-contained system is disclosed. An excited laser species is formed by chemical means and after passing through the optical cavity, the working medium is purified by selective absorption and adsorption processes, increased in pressure, supplemented with makeup feed reactants and recycled. The operation of a system using deuterium and sulfur hexafluoride gases is discussed in detail although various combinations of other suitable reactants which provide a halogen and hydrogen or an isotope thereof are disclosed.

Abstract: A modification to the reflective surfaces in unstable resonator assemblies to improve the operating characteristics of such devices and enhance the quality in the far field of the output beam from such resonators is disclosed. Some modifications include the elimination of abrupt discontinuities in the reflective surfaces and the forming of an auxiliary unstable resonator along the centerline axis of the primary resonator and result in increased symmetry in the operating characteristics of the system in the gain region and improved intensity profile in the far field for the output beam. The concept is applicable to axial as well as radial flow resonators having either circular or cylindrical optics.

Abstract: A sensor for measuring the flux of a gas and some simple alternate embodiments are disclosed. The sensor employs charged particle techniques and includes provision for compensating for environmentally produced changes in the charged particle source. The basic device includes an active region containing the charged particle source located between two upstream charged particle collectors and two downstream charged particle collectors, means for maintaining suitable electric fields between the charged particle source and the collectors, and means for measuring the electric current flowing in each collector. In operation, the sensor is able to compensate for changes in the charged particle source characteristics which would otherwise result in a change of sensor calibration.

Abstract: Gas delivery means for providing a flow of gas to the kerf in a workpiece which is being cut by a beam of laser radiation is disclosed. The distribution means consists of a thin wafer which is placed in the path of the cutting beam adjacent to the workpiece and a stream of gas directed along the axis of laser propagation blows the kerf clean. An upper gas port and a lower gas port allow the laser radiation to pass through the wafer without any transmissive optics. Use of the gas delivery means with various gases at high pressure and with laser beams at power levels which were previously impractical are discussed.

Abstract: New and improved ion collection means for use in flow meter apparatus which utilizes the migration of ions transverse to the direction of flow of a moving fluid to determine flow characteristics are disclosed. The ion collector comprises individual strips of electrically conductive material arranged in an orderly manner at the collection site. The strips are physically separate and connected in electrical series with each other through suitable resistors which are protected from the flow of moving fluid.

Abstract: A method of cutting a multilayer pile of sheet material with a beam of laser radiation is disclosed. A laser beam having a low order mode intensity distribution is focused onto the pile and during cutting a stream of liquid coolant is directed into the material vaporization region to absorb energy from the outer region of the mode distribution which could otherwise result in adhesion of adjacent layers, globularization, singeing or other undesired effect.

Abstract: A method of accomplishing a controlled weld with a beam of laser radiation is disclosed. The workpiece is cleaned and fitted prior to joining and a flow of a gas is provided in the weld region to prevent the formation of radiation insulating plasma between the laser source and the workpiece and to aspirate gaseous impurities from the weld zone. In addition, a trailing cover gas is provided to both the top and the bottom of the weld until the joint is sufficiently cooled to prevent reaction between the metal and the atmosphere. The beam must contain more than two kilowatts of power and be focusable on the workpiece to a power density of at least one megawatt per square inch in order to produce a keyhole in the fusion zone. Further, a weld speed in excess of twenty inches per minute and a progressive solidification technique of the weld contribute to the expulsion of contaminants from the weld.

Abstract: A method and a device for making visible defects in surfaces, in particular hot surfaces, by applying to the surface a penetrating liquid comprising a dye that soaks in the defects, removing the excess of liquid, applying on to the surface a developer such as a synthetic resin, which, after the dye from the defects has migrated into the former, is cured by the heat content of the surfaces into a replica of the surface in which the reversed image of the defects has been recorded and a replica made according to the method.

Abstract: A system for measuring the surface contour of an object by tracking the image of a spot of radiation focused on the surface is disclosed. The radiation spot is imaged on a plurality of suitable detectors which are remote to the surface and connected electrically in parallel. Continuous data on the contour of the surface is provided even though irregularities on the surface interfere with the scattered radiation propagating along the line of sight to one of the detectors. This highly accurate system is servocontrolled and can be automated for recording, storing or displaying data.

Abstract: An apparatus for focusing a beam of collimated radiation at various locations over a wide area is disclosed. The apparatus includes a focus head having an offaxis parabolic section in combination with a flat turning mirror. The head is capable of rotating the beam about two orthogonal axes and is mounted in a gantry which permits three dimensional movement of the entire head.