Abstract: A carrier frequency in a filtered received M-ary phase-shift keyed (MPSK) modulated signal having in-phase and quadrature components is detected by processing the filtered received signal to remove modulation components and thereby generate a test signal at the carrier frequency; processing the test signal to provide an amplitude spectrum of samples at different test frequencies; and processing the amplitude spectrum to detect the carrier frequency in accordance with the test frequency at which there is a test statistic of the highest magnitude. The magnitude of the test statistic is determined by processing a signal statistic in relation to a noise statistic. The signal statistic is the amplitude of the largest-amplitude sample. The filtered received signal is processed to provide approximate values of the modulus of the received signal and the phase of the received signal; and the approximate modulus and phase values are processed to generate the test signal.

Abstract: In a radio network that includes at least one base station and at least one remote station, signals are modulated for transmission from the remote stations by embedding known information throughout the signal in a predetermined pattern and a group of sample vectors of a signal received by at least one base station of the network are collected and processed to detect a said received signal that resulted from propagation of a signal from a remote station of the network. The group of sample vectors is collected from (a) signals that are received by more than one base station of the network; and/or (b) signals that are received simultaneously at different frequencies by at least one base station of the network.

Abstract: A protective eye guard includes a flexible facial mask, a pair of eye covers, a sponge-like material and a layer of shielding material. The facial mask is configured and sized to overlay the portion of a patient's face surrounding the eyes and has a pair of openings overlying the eyes. The eye covers overlie the openings in the facial mask. Within the openings, a pair of enclosed chambers overlying the patient's eyes are defined beneath the respective eye covers. The sponge-like material is disposed in each chamber for absorbing a liquid that disperses and absorbs the energy of a laser beam. The layer of shielding material is an aluminum foil, which is disposed beneath the sponge-like material and overlies the openings for shielding the patient's eyes from the liquid and for also further shielding the patient's eyes from said laser beam.

Abstract: Sensitive materials are packaged by being inserted into an uncontaminated reservoir of a container assembly without being contaminated during such packaging. The container assembly also includes an uncontaminated sleeve and an uncontaminated film. A lower portion of the sleeve extends from opening in the top of the reservoir and an upper portion of the sleeve is sealed by the film. When the film is broken, the material is inserted into the reservoir. The upper portion of the sleeve is separable from the lower portion of the sleeve. The container assembly also includes a first set of carrier arms attached to the upper portion of the sleeve for facilitating movement of the carrier assembly and a second set of carrier arms attached to the reservoir for facilitating handling and/or movement of the reservoir after the upper portion of the sleeve is separated from the lower portion of the sleeve.

Abstract: A particle presentation apparatus for presenting particles being conducted within a gaseous stream for instream spectroscopic elemental analysis includes a particle blending section for homogenizing the distribution particles of significantly different sizes received within a gaseous stream of randomly distributed particles; and a particle sampling section including a window that is adapted for passing a particle excitation beam, such as a laser beam, and photon emissions, and a conduit for conducting the homogenized stream of particles past the window so that a particle excitation beam passing through the window can pass into the stream of homogenized particles. The apparatus may be used in combination with a drilling machine, wherein the particle blending section is coupled to an outlet pipe of the drilling machine for receiving a said gaseous stream of randomly distributed particles that are expelled from a drill hole.

Abstract: A toy building element has sidewalls that include grooves and tongues by which the toy building element can be interconnected with a like building element. Each groove is formed between a pair of outwardly extending flexible ridges. In some embodiments, the tongue does not extend outward beyond the virtual plane of the sidewall that includes the tongue. In other embodiments in which the tongue extends outward beyond the tongue-sidewall virtual plane, the distance by which the tongue extends beyond the tongue-sidewall virtual plane is less than (a) the distance by which each ridge of the pair of ridges extends beyond the ridge-sidewall virtual plane, (b) the distance by each ridge of the pair of ridges extends outward to the ridge-sidewall virtual plane and/or (c) the distance by which each side of the tongue extends outward to the tongue-sidewall virtual plane.

Abstract: The preambles of narrow band signals and DSSS signals are prepared for compatible detection. The preamble is encoded by encoding a sequence of identical preamble blocks with sequentially corresponding code elements of a preamble encoding sequence. Each of the identical preamble blocks has the same predetermined pattern of code elements. When the signal is a DSSS signal, the preamble is a spread preamble in which each of the blocks has a number of code elements corresponding to a spread-factor multiple of the number of code elements in a block of an unspread preamble for a narrow band signal. The preambles of both types of received signals are detected by processing a metric representing detected coherent energy with a metric representing detected noncoherent energy, after first determining that the detected noncoherent energy is greater than the average energy of the received signal.

Abstract: The tracking of the phase of a received signal having a known preamble is accomplished by the steps of: initializing a phase-locked loop in accordance with estimated phase parameters, which are generated during an estimation interval by processing samples of the known preamble; delaying the preamble; generating phase error parameters by processing samples of the delayed preamble; and training the phase locked loop by tracking the phase-tracked signal in accordance with the tracking error parameters during a training interval after the estimation interval. The timing of the sampling is likewise trained in a closed timing loop in accordance with timing error parameters generated during the training interval after the timing loop has been initialized by estimated timing parameters generated during the estimation interval. The duration of the delay of the preamble is one-half the duration of the estimation interval.

Abstract: A system for remotely logging into a personal computer includes a controller coupled to the personal computer and a remote control device. The controller memorizes a login password for the personal computer. The remote control device transmits a login signal to which the controller responds by sending the memorized login password to the personal computer. When the personal computer is located in an automobile that includes apparatus for adjusting at least one component of the automobile to provide a plurality of arrangements of the at least one component, the controller controls the adjusting apparatus and memorizes at least a first component arrangement associated with the personal computer; and the controller responds to a first component arrangement signal received from a location remote from the controller by controlling the adjusting apparatus to provide the memorized first component arrangement.

Abstract: In a method of injection molding a plastic product having a base wall and a sidewall (24), wherein plastic injected into a base-wall section of the mold cavity is conducted through a flow guide (28) in the base-wall section and thence into a sidewall section (24) of the mold cavity, a portion of a base-wall section flow guide is shaped by partially opposing a row of successive recesses (33) in a first mold part with a series of successive recesses (34) in a second mold part, with the recesses in the first mold part being so staggered with respect to the recesses in the second mold part as to provide a chain of overlapping recesses that form a sequence of variable-opening throttles (30) having openings that can vary whenever the alignment between the first and second mold parts varies. The recesses (34) in the second mold part are more than the recesses (33) in the first mold part.

Abstract: Toy-building elements including various combinations of the following features: a top having a broad surface and at least one projection or ball-shaped coupler extending above the broad surface; an interior having contact surfaces that are accessible through an open bottom and are adapted for effecting a releasable restraining engagement with an interconnectable projection or ball-shaped coupler on a second toy-building element; at least one sidewall including at least one groove for effecting a releasable restraining engagement with a tongue in a sidewall of another toy-building element; at least one sidewall including at least one tongue for effecting a releasable restraining engagement within a groove in a sidewall of still another toy-building element; and at least one sidewall including an axel-shaped or ball-shaped coupler for effecting a variably positional engagement with an interconnectable coupler in yet another toy-building element.

Abstract: Apparatus for simulating ultraviolet (UV) signatures of missiles includes a memory, control electronics, drive electronics and at least one solid-state UV-radiation emitter. Waveform data that is characteristic of the UV-signatures of different types of missiles is stored in the memory. The control electronics retrieve specific waveform data from the memory in response to an operator's selection of at least one of one or more different types of missiles and processes the retrieved waveform data to generate a waveform signal that simulates the UV-signature(s) of the selected missile(s). The drive electronics respond to the generated waveform signal by causing the at least one solid-state UV-radiation emitter to emit UV radiation simulating the UV-signature(s) of the missile(s). The apparatus is mounted on a hand-held chassis. Operator controls are included in a hand grip of the chassis.

Abstract: The contents of a two-dimensional array of vessels are mixed by a vortex created by continuous lateral tumbling of a magnetic stir element against the interior side wall of each vessel. The system includes a drive magnet having oppositely polarized sides, and a carousel including receptacles at different heights and at different positions about the carousel's axis of rotation for receiving a plurality of arrays of vessels. The magnet's vertical physical axis is aligned with the carousel's axis of rotation so that the magnet is disposed to one side of each of the receptacles. The magnet provides magnetic flux lines that rotate horizontally through 360 degrees within the received vessels when the magnet is rotated about its vertical physical axis to thereby cause magnetic stir elements in the vessels to continuously tumble laterally against the interior side wall of the vessel and thereby create the vortexes.

Abstract: In a direction finding system, pluralities of signals provided by different sets of less than all of a plurality of arrayed antennas are code division multiplexed, downconverted by a single receiver, A/D converted and separated to derive signals that are processed to estimate the directions of arrival of the signals received by the different sets of antennas at different frequencies. The signals from different antennas are coded with different codes that have a common M-sequence and different phases for the different antennas. The derived signals are processed to detect the presence of signals and simultaneously demodulate and estimate the directions of arrival of signals by the antennas at the different frequencies. The different sets of antennas from which the received signals are provided for coding and multiplexing are selectively varied in accordance with the estimated directions of arrival and estimated magnitudes.

Abstract: A hollow plastic product with a substantially tubular section, two open ends and a thread at the outside of one end of the product is removed from a core mold part by closing the threaded end of the molded product and injecting compressed air into the molded product to loosen the molded product from the core mold part. The threaded end of the product is closed by attaching a threaded closure having a matching thread onto the threaded end of the molded product. A robotic arm is used to robotically attach the threaded closure onto the threaded end of the product. The threaded closure is a plastic cap that injection molded in the injection molding system in which the product is injection molded, with the caps being injection molded at the same average rate as the products are injection molded.

Abstract: A group of associated transponders are respectively attached to a plurality of objects, such as sensors or containers. Each transponder includes a memory, a transmitter, a receiver and a controller. The memory stores group data, which includes data related to the respective attached objects. The controller causes the transmitter to autonomously transmit a group interrogation signal and to transmit a response signal in response to receipt of a group interrogation signal from another transponder of the group. The response signal includes at least some of the stored group data. The receiver receives both the group interrogation signals and the response signals from the other transponders of the group. The controller controls the transmitter and receiver and causes the memory to store data related to the respective object to which the transponder is attached and to store the group data included in the received response signals.

Abstract: During injection molding of a plastic product having a base wall and a sidewall, fluid plastic material is injected into a base-wall section of a mold cavity. The base-wall section of the mold cavity includes at least one flow guide that is defined by a first mold part, a second mold part, and a third mold part that is movable relative to the first and second mold parts to either decrease or increase the conduction of injected plastic material through the at least one flow guide. Conduction within the at-least-one flow guide is adjusted dynamically while the injected plastic material is being conducted into the sidewall section of the mold cavity by moving the movable third mold part in response to sensed variations in injection pressures in different portions of the sidewall section of the mold cavity.

Abstract: The signal-to-noise ratio of a demodulated received signal is estimated by measuring the error vector magnitude (EVM) of the demodulated signal; and processing the measured EVM in combination with a correction term to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio of the demodulated signal. The correction term is a polynomial function of the measured EVM. The signal-to-noise ratio is estimated in accordance with the formula: E S N 0 ? 10 · LOG 10 ? ( ? · ? E S ? 4 ? [ ? ^ z + C ? ( ? ^ z ) ] 2 ) ? ? ( dB ) wherein {circumflex over (?)}z is the measured EVM based on the mean of a Rayleigh density of EVM measurements; and C is the correction term. For QPSK modulated signals, C is calculated in accordance with the formula: CQPSK({circumflex over (?)}z)?2.71×10?3{circumflex over (?)}z3?7.54×10?2{circumflex over (?)}z2+0.7{circumflex over (?)}z?2.25. For BPSK modulated signals, C is calculated in accordance with the formula: CBPSK({circumflex over (?)}z)?1.

Abstract: A system for remotely logging into a personal computer includes a controller coupled to the personal computer and a remote control device. The controller memorizes a login password for the personal computer. The remote control device transmits a login signal to which the controller responds by causing the personal computer to be turned on and by sending the memorized login password to the personal computer. When the personal computer is located in an automobile that includes apparatus for adjusting at least one component of the automobile to provide a plurality of arrangements of the at least one component, the controller controls the adjusting apparatus and memorizes at least a first component arrangement associated with the personal computer; and the controller responds to a first component arrangement signal received from a location remote from the controller by controlling the adjusting apparatus to provide the memorized first component arrangement.

Abstract: A carrier frequency in a filtered received M-ary phase-shift keyed (MPSK) modulated signal having in-phase and quadrature components is detected by processing the filtered received signal to remove modulation components and thereby generate a test signal at the carrier frequency; processing the test signal to provide an amplitude spectrum of samples at different test frequencies; and processing the amplitude spectrum to detect the carrier frequency in accordance with the test frequency at which there is a test statistic of the highest magnitude. The magnitude of the test statistic is determined by processing a signal statistic in relation to a noise statistic. The signal statistic is the amplitude of the largest-amplitude sample. The filtered received signal is processed to provide approximate values of the modulus of the received signal and the phase of the received signal; and the approximate modulus and phase values are processed to generate the test signal.