Abstract: A hot wire chemical vapor deposition method and apparatus for fabricating high quality amorphous, micro-crystalline, and poly-crystalline thin film silicon, or related materials, devices and large area modules is described. A silane gas impinges upon a hot graphite rod assembly whereas the gas is broken up into its individual constituents, these constituents then depositing on an inert substrate member. The distance between the hot graphite rod assembly and the substrate member is adjustable. A shutter is provided to shield the substrate member as the hot graphite rod assembly is heating up. The hot graphite rod assembly contains a plurality of mutually parallel and coplanar rods that are parallel to the plane of the substrate member, and the hot graphite rod assembly and/or the substrate is oscillated in a direction generally normal to the direction in which the rods extend.

Abstract: A postal article consisting of a postcard provided with a device for making an audio recording of a message and a device for playing back said recording, wherein the postal article is secured to a housing (4) containing a disk (43), a disk rotating assembly (28) and a disk rotation control assembly (45). One side of the housing is secured to a membrane (14) connected to a pivotable pick-up arm (17) supporting a pair of angularly offset styli (24, 25); i.e., a first, cutting stylus (24) and a second, playing stylus, said styli being designed to engage a spirally out groove (50) in the surface of the disk (43). A soft material at the bottom of the groove is protected by a mask separating it from the environment. The mask is removed before recording and the soft material, once exposed, hardens after a given time interval.

Abstract: An elongated sleeping bag is proportioned to resemble a character when it is in an elongated, flat state on a relatively flat surface. An element resembling the head of a character is attached to the sleeping bag facing in the same direction as the front panel of the sleeping bag. The head element contains a pouch into which the sleeping bag can be stuffed so as to form a base or floor on which the head can stand for storage or display. Shoulder straps are attached to the head to permit carrying of the entire assembly as a backpack when the sleeping bag is stored within the pouch. Accessories can likewise be attached to the head. The combined sleeping bag, character display item, and backpack is primarily intended for use by children but could be fabricated for uses ranging from dolls to adults.

Abstract: A microstrip antenna includes a ground plane element and a radiating element. An elongated trough is formed generally in the middle of the radiating element so as to divide the radiating element into two generally equally-sized portions, and in a manner to extend outward from a bottom surface of the radiating element. The trough includes a first side edge, a second side edge, and a bottom surface. A first radiating portion extends from the first side edge, and a second radiating portion extends from the second side edge. The trough provides an elongated microstrip-size element at the bottom surface of the trough. A relatively thin dielectric layer is provided between the bottom surface of the trough and a corresponding portion of the ground plane element, thereby providing that a microstrip transmission line is formed by the bottom surface of the trough, the thin dielectric layer, and the corresponding portion of the ground plane element.

Abstract: A transmit/receive antenna selectively operates to transmit or receive at one or more of a plurality of different frequencies in the MHz range. A planar transmission line diplexer or multiplexer that is selected from the group microstrip multiplexer diplexer/multiplexer and stripline diplexer/multiplexer connects an input/output port to a plurality of antenna ports that are physically spaced from each other and from the input/output port. One antenna element is connected to each of the antenna ports. The transmission line diplexer/multiplexer includes a plurality of individual microstrip/stripline elements that have a characteristic impedance and a length that are selected such that the transmission line diplexer/multiplexer automatically provides a matched impedance path between a given antenna element and the input/output port when an antenna-matching frequency is received by the given antenna element or when the antenna matching frequency is applied to the input/output port.

Abstract: An electrosurgical electrode having a distal end for transferring the energy to the tissue and a thermal reservoir spaced apart from the distal end. The materials and shape of the electrode promote the flow of heat away from the distal tip so as to reduce the temperature of the tip during electrosurgery, to reduce tissue damage and to prevent the tissue from sticking to the electrode tip. The electrode is composed of a bio-compatible and highly thermally conductive metal, such as silver or gold of high purity, or alloy of those two metals. The shape provides a cross-sectional area that is constant or increasing as the distance from the tip increases. The rounded distal end transitions into a cylindrical section which then transitions into the thermal reservoir. The thermal reservoir is also cylindrical, having a cross-sectional area that is larger than the cross-sectional area of the first cylindrical section.

Abstract: Electrosurgical forceps including two electrodes, each having a tip that is composed of a material that has the characteristics of electrical conductivity, high thermal diffusivity, and biocompatibility. Such characteristics allow the forceps to be used in medical applications to perform electrosurgery with a minimum of sticking to the tissue. These desired characteristics are found with pure silver and pure gold, as well as biocompatible alloys of silver and/or gold that are nearly entirely composed of silver and/or gold. The electrodes may include a thermal reservoir of this material spaced apart from a distal end of the electrode, with the thermal reservoir having a greater cross-sectional area than the distal end.

Abstract: A multiplexer for multiplexing and demultiplexing signals between a low-speed network and a higher speed network includes 7 quad DSX-1 cards and 1 spare card. The spare card is connected to the DSX-1 cards to allow the spare card to automatically be switched in for one of the DSX-1 cards or to allow interface electronics on the spare card to replace selected ones of interface electronics on different DSX-1 cards simultaneously. A pair of controller cards, a primary card and a secondary card, perform M1-3 multiplexing and demultiplexing and the DS-3 framing and transceiving. The controller cards can be selected or deselected in a short time period alarms are not set off and so that the transition is hitless by electronically enabling and disabling the transceiver. The multiplexer is connectable to 2 different T-3 links to provide network redundancy. An array of relays connected either controller card to either of the T-3 links.

Abstract: An electroluminescent solid state device includes an active body member that is formed of a single crystalline metal oxide, such as aluminum oxide, that is doped with a rare earth element, such as erbium and/or terbium and an activator atom such as oxygen and/or fluorine. The metal oxide body member is electron excited by kinetic electrons that are emitted by a cold cathode. The ends of the metal oxide body member are polished to form a Fabry-Perot resonator, thus providing for coherent radiation from the device. As an alternative to the use of a Fabry-Perot cavity, an acoustic wave generator is associated with the metal oxide body member in order to launch acoustic waves into the body member. The frequency of energization of the acoustic wave generator operates to select a radiation wavelength from one or more emission wavelengths that are produced by doping the metal oxide body member with one or more rare earth elements.

Abstract: A substrate cassette contains two physically spaced and parallel reels. A relatively long web of flexible substrate material is wound about one reel and the exposed end of the web is connected to the other reel, to thus expose a relatively short length of the substrate material at a deposition-plane that lies between the two reels. A first idler roller is associated with the first reel, a second idler roller is associated with the second reel, and the web is guided by the two idler rollers as the web moves between the two reels. The two idler rollers are mounted at fixed positions in order to accurately establish a fixed-position deposition-plane. The substrate cassette is placed within one or more vacuum deposition chambers, the web is advanced between the two reels, and one or more semiconductor layers are deposited on substantially the entire length of the web. A protective layer is provided as part of the web in order to protect the semiconductor layer(s) when the web is wound unto a take-up reel.

Abstract: A small size, flat panel, ⅙th wavelength antenna is provided. A flat copper-clad dielectric substrate is processed on a first flat side to produce a copper triangular or pseudo triangular-shaped radiating element having a linear copper feed line that extends from the triangle apex. The substrate is also processed on its opposite flat side to produce a rectangular-shaped first copper ground plane element that underlies at least a portion of the copper feed line, but does not underlie the copper radiating element. The first side of the substrate may also be processed to produce a second copper ground plane element that is out of physical engagement with both the copper feed line and the copper radiation element. Aligned through holes are formed in the first ground plane element and the substrate. The metal sheath of a coaxial cable connects to the copper ground plane member(s), and the cable center conductor penetrates the aligned through holes and connects to the copper feed line.

Abstract: A Radio Frequency (RF) microstrip antenna employs a planar or curved radiator element that is mounted or supported in spaced relation to a planar or curved ground plane element A RF feed is attached near one edge of the radiator element for receiving and/or transmitting RF signals; in a lobe that is substantially perpendicular to the ground plane element. The radiator element and the ground plane element are maintained in a converging inclined or tilted physical relationship. When a coaxial cable is employed as the antenna feed, the cable's outer insulation is secured to the ground plane element, the cable's center conductor extends away from the ground plane element to provide a signal feed to the radiator element and to provide physical support for one edge of the radiator element, and two insulator posts extend away from the ground plane element to provide support for the opposite edge of the radiator element.

Abstract: A hot wire chemical vapor deposition method and apparatus for fabricating high quality amorphous, micro-crystalline, and poly-crystalline thin film silicon, or related materials, devices and large area modules is described. A silane gas impinges upon a hot graphite rod assembly whereas the gas is broken up into its individual constituents, these constituents then depositing on an inert substrate member. The distance between the hot graphite rod assembly and the substrate member is adjustable. A shutter is provided to shield the substrate member as the hot graphite rod assembly is heating up. The hot graphite rod assembly contains a plurality of mutually parallel and coplanar rods that are parallel to the plane of the substrate member, and the hot graphite rod assembly and/or the substrate is oscillated in a direction generally normal to the direction in which the rods extend.

Abstract: A low-loss comb-generating optical cavity including an optical amplifier and a microwave-driven electro-optic modulator crystal, produces a comb of optical frequency sidebands having spectral lines equally spaced around the frequency of an input laser beam incident on the comb-generating cavity. The comb-generating cavity includes an input mirror movable along the beam propagation direction, and a fixed position output mirror located at time synchronous distances of both the input laser wavelength and modulation wavelength. The comb-generating cavity and its microwave driven modulator are in resonance with the input laser beam, and provide iterative or recirculating beam action that transfers the input optical frequency of the laser, sideband by sideband, to remote and precisely known comb frequencies offset from, and centered on, the input laser frequency.

Abstract: Effectuation of a health care provision agency cooperative function is established through a communication network linking all the various entities of the cooperative. The entities include the third party payor members, the health providing individuals, clinics, or the like, along with secondary providers including pharmacies and laboratories, health care facilities such as hospitals, and the several entities associated with management of the cooperative and appropriate funds transfer functions. A coordinating interface system maintains data storage of the necessary information, and manages the entity intercommunications in accordance with the basic structure of the active and eligible elements of the agency cooperative.

Abstract: Range or distance to points is estimated within a scene, while simultaneously imaging the scene. The range to various points within the scene is estimated by imaging at least a first color of light from the scene through an optical mask and a lens onto a CCD, and then digitally processing the first color light intensity values stored in the CCD. At least a second color of light passes through the mask essentially unchanged and is separated from the first color of light before reaching the CCD and used for imaging the scene. The optical mask is designed such that the optical system transformation matrix for the first color of light is rank deficient for a particular set of object ranges. In this way, linear functions can be found to annihilate given sampled image data at a plurality of ranges, independent of the intensity of the light received from the object. A statistical detector is used to determine the closest associated range to the actual range of the point within the scene.

Abstract: An optical frequency shifter is provided to change the frequency of a coherent input light beam by imparting periodic increases in phase to the beam. This increase in phase is caused by ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) in conjunction with quarter wave plates. The FLCs are repeatedly switched on and off by electrical signal generators, adding phase shift in steps, which in turn results in a higher output optical frequency.

Abstract: A Radio Frequency (RF) microstrip antenna employs a planar or curved radiator element that is mounted or supported in spaced relation to a planar or curved ground plane element. A RF feed is attached near one edge of the radiator element for receiving and/or transmitting RF signals in a lobe that is substantially perpendicular to the ground plane element. The radiator element and the ground plane element are maintained in a converging or tilted physical relationship. When a coaxial cable is employed as the antenna feed, the cable's outer insulation is secured to the ground plane element, the cable's center conductor extends away from the ground plane element to provide a signal feed to the radiator element and to provide physical support for one edge of the radiator element, and two insulator posts extend away from the ground plane element to provide support for the opposite edge of the radiator element.