Abstract: A ship designed to achieve high speed through the use of multiple, low wave-making resistance, submerged hullform pods is constructed for stable operation during maneuvers with and without a payload. Movable fins on the submerged hullform pods are constructed and are operable to provide the turning and to counteract an inertial moment produced by an elevated center of gravity of the ship so that the ship turns flat or rolls into a turn and does not roll out of a turn. A load balancing pod is movable fore-to-aft and side-to-side to balance the amount and the location of varied payloads on the ship. The movement of the fins may be a tilting movement, or each fin can be maintained at a set angle but extendable out of and retractable into a related pod to create the amount of side force needed for maneuvers and/or to control the amount of lift that might be needed during operation of the ship.

Abstract: A display for displaying the dial-in selection of information of a racing vehicle for use by a timing tower in racing includes a display unit which displays a numeric amount or alphanumeric data of a dial-in selection of information. The display unit includes electronic driver circuits, and the display unit is constructed to be mounted on a racing vehicle so that the display can be readily seen from outside of the vehicle and at varied distances and angles with respect to the vehicle.

Abstract: An assembling type unit track member for toy vehicles is disclosed, which can be assembled into an endless running track for toy vehicles. The assembling type unit track member for toy vehicles consists of a U shaped track member. The U shaped track member includes a bottom plate 1a and a protuberance 2 and a slot 2a formed at a center of the bottom plate 1a, for being assembled to other track members. A pair of trapezoidal coupling piece 3 and a pair of trapezoidal recesses 3a are formed on the bottom plate 1a and at both sides of the protuberance 2 and the slot 2a. A pair of pillar shaped walls 4 stand at both ends of the bottom plate 1a, and a projection 4a and a channel 4b are formed on each of the pillar shaped walls 4, for being coupled to other track members. The assembling type unit track member can be produced by a single die, and therefore, the production cost can be curtailed.

Abstract: An optical solar reflector (OSR) for spacecraft having a thin film layer of photocatalytic coating material applied to the space-facing side of the OSR which is effective to maintain long term effectiveness of optical solar reflectors (OSR) by preventing/decomposing organic residues on the OSR surfaces. Preferred photocatalytic coating materials include photoactive transition metal oxides and compound semiconductor materials. The photoactive coating material is excited by the UV or near UV components of solar radiation to generate free carriers. The resulting conduction-band electrons and valence-band holes can then interact with bound oxygen in the organic residues to form radicals and eventually break down the organic contaminants.

Abstract: A silencer shim structure is mounted on a friction pad of a disc brake assembly by retaining pins which extend through the shim structure and into the backing plate for preventing dislodging of the shim structure in service. The force of the rotating action of the brake disc is at a 90° angle to the retaining pin. This 90° angle provides effective resistance to any shifting or rotation of the shim structure with respect to the backing plate during actuation of a disc brake apparatus. The retaining pin has an outer surface which is disposed substantially flush with the outer surface of the shim structure. The outer surface of the retaining pin therefore does not interfere with the positioning or functioning of an actuator piston structure, caliper structure or other disc brake structure. The flush mounting allows the system of the present invention to be used for any caliper design.

Abstract: A toy automobile is disclosed, in which when the toy automobile runs through a curved path, a roller of a bumper of the automobile is pushed back by the wall of the track, so that the toy automobile can run through the curved path by turning the front wheels to left or right, thereby preventing the automobile from being detached from the track, or from being overturned. Universal joints 15 are respectively formed on ends of the front shaft 5 to be connected to the front wheels. Shaft retainers 16 of the front wheels are respectively supported by supporting plates 17 of the automobile body 1 by means of king pins 18. A bumper 20 is installed on a front end of the automobile body 1 by utilizing a guide slot 21, a supporting pin 22 and a spring 23 so as to make the bumper 20 turnable to left and right within the limits of the guide slot 21. A pair of steering bars 24 are respectively connected to arms 26 of the shaft retainers 16 of the front wheels.

Abstract: A machine and method for the manufacture of a continuous production of pneumatically filled packaging pillows for use as void fill packaging for the safe shipping of articles. A strip of flattened preformed film material with a repeated sealing pattern is advanced along a path through the machine and include a common inflation channel that is guided onto a longitudinally extending inflation tube at a first station. The inflation tube has an orifice through which pressurized air is expressed in controlled fashion to inflate pillow chambers that emanate off the common inflation channel of the film material. The film material is advanced to a second station where continuous longitudinally extending heat seals are formed in the film material in a manner to trap and confine a quantity of air inside the inflated pillow chambers. The film material is then advance to a third station where the common inflation channel is slit open in order to release the film material from the inflation tube of the machine.

Abstract: A mission configurable modular satellite bus structure composed of several scalable modules, including a propulsion module and one or more stackable space modules, each using standard subsystems or components with common structures and/or interfaces, that can be processed in parallel to minimize nonrecurring and recurring costs. Each stackable space module includes a generally cylindrical central hub having a plurality of radial rib panels extending outwardly therefrom to form a plurality of bays for containing subsystem equipment. The hub includes a hollow center sized to receive the propulsion module as a fully assembled unit. The radial rib panels carry the primary structural load of the spacecraft. Also provided are removable side access panels that form enclosures for the bays. The side access panels include equipment mounts along an inside surface for mounting the subsystem components and radiators along an outside surface to provide thermal cooling for the mounted subsystem equipment.

Abstract: A disc type throttle stop selectively regulates the power of an internal combustion engine by controlling the flow between an air metering device and the intake valves and presents substantially no restriction to the flow in the full open position of the throttle stop at wide open throttle conditions of the engine.

Abstract: A modular filter apparatus is formed from stacked filter modules. Slurry to be filtered flows into the apparatus through a flowmeter and check valve into a header. The flow of slurry then branches off through feeders to each of the filter modules. Connected to the header is a slurry supply source, a cakewash supply source and a header drain. The modules are coupled to a hydraulic jack mechanism and an upper strongback.

Abstract: A battery charging apparatus for charging a stack of multiple lithium ion battery cells charges the stack by a combination of switched capacitance cell balancing and cell voltage monitoring to provide a charge cycle that starts with a nominally constant current charging and easily shifts to constant voltage taper charging.

Abstract: A microlens of any designed configuration is formed as a replica in a photoresist material, and the photoresist material replica is used to reproduce the replica directly in a substrate material.

Abstract: Wavefront correction apparatus for correcting a stepped wavefront output produced by certain angles of scan and by certain positions of scan in scanning microlens arrays includes anamorphic transfer optics with diffractive corrections. The transfer optics form the outputs of all of the unit cell trains of the microlens arrays into a unique, separate, linear image at each position of scan of the scanning array. A stepped wavefront corrector is positioned in the path of each linear image, and selected thicknesses of the material in the stepped wavefront corrector are effective to vary the times of optical passage through the stepped wavefront corrector in amounts to restore the wavefront to a continuous, unstepped form at the outlet of the plate.

Abstract: Wavefront correction apparatus for correcting a stepped wavefront output produced by certain angles of scan and by certain positions of scan in scanning microlens arrays includes anamorphic transfer optics with diffractive corrections. The transfer optics form the outputs of all of the unit cell trains of the microlens arrays into a unique, separate, linear image at each position of scan of the scanning array. A stepped wavefront corrector is positioned in the path of each linear image, and selected thicknesses of the material in the stepped wavefront corrector are effective to vary the times of optical passage through the stepped wavefront corrector in amounts to restore the wavefront to a continuous, unstepped form at the outlet of the plate.

Abstract: A large aperture microlens array assembly has at least two arrays of microlenses with individual unit cell trains optically interconnecting individual microlenses in one array with related individual microlenses in another array. In each unit cell train the light entering an entrance pupil of a microlens in one array is transmitted through the exit surface of a related microlens of the other array to provide a collimated output through the exit. One array may be moved with respect to the other array for scanning a field of regard.

Abstract: A large aperture microlens array assembly has at least two arrays of microlenses with individual unit cell trains optically interconnecting individual microlenses in one array with related individual microlenses in another array. In each unit cell train the light entering an entrance pupil of a microlens in one array is transmitted through the exit surface of a related microlens of the other array to provide a collimated output through the exit. One array may be moved with respect to the other array for scanning a field of regard.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for positioning a drape covering for a window comprise an electric stepper motor and an automated control for actuating the electric stepper motor to move the drape to any selected position at any selected time and in any selected sequence of drape movements.

Abstract: A generally polygonal block-like enclosure of rigid material including a top and bottom wall, a pair of a concave inward front walls which define an inner corner adapted to fit on an outside corner, and a back wall spaced from the front walls by a pair of spaced side wall. The back wall includes a centrally disposed spherical cavity sized for receiving a bail socket connector which is preferably retained therein by a spring clip or equivalent retaining means and each front wall includes a vertically oriented channel which extend between the top and bottom walls. The enclosure also includes a manifold which connects the spherical cavity in the back wall to each of the channels in the front wall.

Abstract: An adaptive control includes a digital error correction system (DECS) to reduce control system error to near zero by anticipating a problem and feeding forward in time a correction to deal with the problem before it happens. The adaptive control is used in a controlled system of the kind which is cyclical in operation and which operates in response to repetitive cycle commands so that the operation of the system is substantially predictable for a significant number of cycles of operation. The adaptive control is incorporated in a spatial chopping or scanning telescope system of the kind in which a telescope mirror is moved in repetitive cycle motions and in a rigidly prescribed pattern between varied orientations and wherein the mirror is held for a prescribed, relatively long period of time in each orientation and is moved rapidly in a relatively short period of time from one orientation to another.

Abstract: A Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM), which divides a CW laser beam into two optical portions, is biased at a 180.degree. phase difference between the two optical portions. An RF signal and an LO signal are simultaneously applied to one of the optical portions of the laser beam to produce phase changes between the two optical portions. The two optical portions of the laser beam are then recombined into an optical output beam, which is detected by a photodetector. The photodetector generates a photocurrent, which contains a component at a beat frequency--i.e., the frequency difference between the RF and LO frequencies. The waveform of the photocurrent component at the beat frequency is substantially the same (except for amplitude and a fixed phase shift) as the waveform of the RF signal.