Abstract: A urinal or toilet ventilation system for removing unpleasant odors from the vicinity of the urinal or toilet, both during usage and for a short period of time following usage. The ventilation system has a series of flexible water ducts extending throughout the device and leading to the outside. Additionally, the device has a series of air ducts extending throughout the device and attaching to a motor which in turns pushes the air through another series of ducts leading to the outside. In a further embodiment the urinal or toilet has a sensor to detect the presence of a user for actuating the motor and begins the air extraction system. Upon the user leaving the vicinity of the urinal or toilet, the sensor has a built in delay, and continues to extract any unpleasant odors for a short duration.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for compacting and pulverizing waste and soil, including a mechanism for cutting wire, tubing, hoses, plastics, carpet, mattresses, and other like materials that tend to be present at landfill and other waste sites and that can interfere with the operation of a compacting and pulverizing apparatus. The mobile compactor, pulverizer and cutting method achieves superior performance in terms of increased compacting ability by using a plurality of compacting and pulverizing members that are mounted rotatably on a plurality of rods running parallel to a main shaft, which compacting and pulverizing members rotate about the main shaft during operation to compact and pulverize waste and soil and other materials.

Abstract: Apparatus and method are provided for the treatment of potable water. A non-pressurized chlorinator has a first chamber which receives solid calcium hypochlorite tablets. A portion of the potable water flows into the first chamber to produce a chlorine solution in a second chamber of the chlorinator. An eductor is connected in a potable water flow line and draws the chlorine solution from the second chamber to chlorinate the water. A third chamber in fluid communication with the second chamber includes level sensors to control the flow of water into the chlorinator. The use of pumps for injection of chlorine into the potable water supply is eliminated thereby providing a highly reliable and cost effective system. The system is particularly advantageous in that it does not rely upon the use of chlorine gas nor is it necessary to transport or store highly unstable liquid chlorine.

Abstract: A controller for use with AC induction motors utilizes a microcontroller in conjunction with a triac to control the duty cycle of the AC power applied to the motor. A voltage sensing circuit provides signals to the microcontroller. The microcontroller is also coupled to the gate of a triac. The microcontroller automatically selects the appropriate parameters for most efficient motor operation based upon the motor power factor as determined by the time at which the voltage across the motor crosses zero and the voltage at the triac gate crosses zero.

Abstract: In a method and apparatus for remotely controlling a formation of drones. A single drone is chosen as a formation leader. Each other drone in the formation has one other drone in the formation as its leader. A follower drone will sense relative movement parameters as well as inquire of its leader drone as to its other movement parameters. The follower drone will then control itself to follow the movements of its leader.

Abstract: A surgical device for altering the curvature of an eye includes a base which carries a transparent insert, a drive device, a knife edge coupled to the drive device and movable to a plane immediately adjacent the under surface of the transparent insert. The transparent insert includes a face having a surface portion shaped according to a predetermined correction. The base further includes a suction ring which forms a vacuum chamber with the eye. The suction ring is placed against the eye. Application of vacuum results in the cornea of the eye being urged into engagement with the shaped surface portion. Actuation of the drive device moves the knife edge whereby the cornea is cut. Only the knife edge traverses the insert.

Abstract: A pipe coupler for use in fire sprinkler systems is of generally cylindrical shape. The coupler carries locking springs to engage grooves carried on the ends of the sprinkler pipes. The coupler also carries seal rings to provide for leak proof coupling. The locking springs are carried in grooves which have sidewalls which are perpendicular to the inner surface of the coupler. The corresponding grooves on the pipes also have sidewalls which are perpendicular to the exterior surface of the pipe.

Abstract: A digital image processor is described in which the output from a linear array of electro-optic sensors, first having been signal conditioned and digitized, is then loaded into a RAM image memory forming a part of the microprocessor-based template matching processor. The image memory functions like a shift device and as the sensor image signals are shifted therethrough, they are compared on a bit-by-bit basis with digital signals stored in a PROM which comprise a plurality of templates with which the scanned image is to be compared. The extent of correspondence between the image being sensed and the templates is then accumulated and if the sum exceeds a predetermined threshold, a match between the image being sensed and the template is established. The system is implemented using gate array technology such that the common template concept is feasible in those applications requiring very small size and low power dissipation.

Abstract: A step attenuator comprises two branchline couplers with two coupling transmission lines therebetween. Attenuation is accomplished through switchable resistors, in series with switching diodes, shunted across the transmission lines. These resistors reflect and absorb incident power. Switching signals are provided to the diodes through the branchline couplers and the coupling transmission lines. The reflected power is absorbed by a matched termination at the port of the input branchline coupler that is isolated from the port at which the signal to be attenuated is coupled. Phase shift and insertion loss are minimized by tuning the series inductance inherent in the diode resistor combination with tuning capacitors in series therewith. These capacitors are by passed by low-susceptance inductors which provide a dc path to ground for the diodes.

Abstract: A position detecting apparatus in the form of a sphere movable about three mutually orthogonal axes and employing optical encoding such as gray scale encoding and detector so positioned that motion about any of the three orthogonal axes is detected by one and only one of the detector.

Abstract: An improved transimpedance amplifier having a wide bandwidth, stable operation and high gain including a cascode input transistor stage. The cascode input stage includes a JFET transistor coupled to a photodiode output providing the current input for the transimpedance amplifier. The output of the JFET transistor is coupled to the emitter of a bipolar transistor having its base grounded. The JFET reduces current noise in the transimpedance amplifier and the bipolar transistor provides the required high gain while coupling the Miller capacitance to ground. The output of the bipolar transistor is coupled through the base of a second bipolar transistor which provides a buffer for the transimpedance amplifier. An output level shift provides the feedback voltage to the cascode input stage.

Abstract: A hand controller which includes a hand grip having therein a mechanism for allowing truly linear motion along at least two axes by modifying a four-bar linkage with a second four-bar linkage to counteract any rotational motion that would otherwise occur.

Abstract: In a wireless alarm system an arrangement for increasing the reliability that messages will be received is provided. Each transmitter transmits an alarm message a plurality of times with delays between the messages. Successive delay times are of different duration to increase the likelihood that messages will not be lost if two transmitters transmit at the same time.

Abstract: An interferometer, such as a fiberoptic Mach-Zehnder type, is equipped at a transmission end of the system with a phase modulator driven by a data-input signal to be transmitted; and at a reception end with another phase modulator driven by a large reference signal. Nonlinear dependence of output intensity on these signals yields an intensity component that is the product of the signals at the modulators; and in turn an electrical output-signal component at frequency equal to the difference between the data- and reference-signal frequencies. A servocontrolled phase bias holds the system near a minimum in overall light level, where nonlinearity is prominent while intensity-related noise is minimized.

Abstract: A low cost fiber optic gyro includes a Sagnac interferometer configured in a minimum reciprocal configuration and modified to use a 0.8 micron wavelength laser diode as the interferometer light source and 1.3 micron, single-mode fiber for the sensing coil.

Abstract: A fiber optic rotation sensor having a pair of light beams counterpropagating in a loop includes a phase modulator for modulating the waves at a first frequency, upon exiting the loop the waves are combined into a light intensity signal indicative of rotation rate and is sensed. A signal at the first frequency is quadrature phase shifted by a lower frequency signal and summed with the sensed rate signal, an amplifier amplifies the summed signals, the amplifier also inherently induces undesirable phase shifts by an equal amount in both the sensed rate signal and the quadrature signal. The quadrature signal is demodulated and used in feedback fashion to control the phase of a variable phase shifter which provides a signal at the first frequency whose phase is shifted by an amount equal to the undesirable phase shift of the sensed rate signal, the variable phase shifter signal and the sensed rate signal being provided to a demodulator to demodulate rotation rate information from the sensed rate signal.

Abstract: A precision variable attenuator includes quadrature hybrid circuits, each having a first pair of isolated ports corresponding to the input and output ports of the attenuator. The second pair of isolated ports each are terminated with variable impedances in a manner to provide equal reflection coefficients at each port. Signals incident to the input port are coupled to the second pair of isolated ports and reflected therefrom to be coupled to the output port.

Abstract: An MOS FET pass element for a switching voltage regulator is driven by a dual voltage booster configuration. The pulse width modulator of the regulator provides a two-phase logic signal for alternately energizing and charging each booster. Each booster is comprised of a capacitor charged from a charging voltage source and coupled to the gate of the FET for providing a turn-on voltage thereto. A switching transistor associated with each booster alternately couples the associated booster capacitor to a predetermined voltage and to ground. The capacitors alternately provide the turn-on voltage to the FET when the predetermined voltage is applied thereto. On alternate half cycles, each capacitor is charged from the charging voltage source. The two-phase logic signal alternately renders the switching transistors conductive. A NAND gate responsive to the two-phase logic signal, permits the FET to be turned on by the voltage boosters only during the presence of each of the logic signals.

Abstract: A computer control system in which each input condition to which the system must respond is defined and a priority value assigned thereto. Desired system resource conditions called attributes herein corresponding to each input are determined. System resource states or attributes for all combinations of control element states are determined. An optimum configuration for the discrete control elements is established for a set of input conditions by comparing the system resource condition for each control element configuration with the system resource condition desired for all the input conditions. A score for each input condition is determined based on the priority of the input condition and the number of resource conditions for the input condition which match the resource conditions for a control elements configuration, and the optimum control configuration is the configuration which produces the highest cumulative score for all input conditions.