Abstract: An automated mass spectrometer analysis system is disclosed, in which samples are automatically processed in a sample processor and converted into volatilizable samples, or their characteristic volatilizable derivatives. Each volatilizable sample is sequentially volatilized and analyzed in a double focusing mass spectrometer, whose output is in the form of separate ion beams all of which are simultaneously focused in a focal plane. Each ion beam is indicative of a different sample component or different fragments of one or more sample components and the beam intensity is related to the relative abundance of the sample component. The system includes an electro-optical ion detector which automatically and simultaneously converts the ion beams, first into electron beams which in turn produce a related image which is transferred to the target of a vilicon unit.

Abstract: A mooring and cargo transfer terminal is described, of the type which includes a buoy held at a predetermined height above the seabed as by a single anchor leg, to moor a ship which can drift in rotation about the buoy while a floating hose structure carries fluid to or from the ship, wherein the terminal is constructed to protect the buoy end of the floating hose structure from wave action, while facilitating maintenance of the fluid swivel which connects a nonrotating conduit extending up from the seabed to a rotating conduit connected to the floating hose structure. The fluid swivel is mounted at the top of the buoy for easy maintenance, and a rotating pipe connected to the rotating portion of the swivel extends therefrom and downwardly to an underwater depth below the troughs of waves, so that the buoy end of the floating hose structure is always below the waves.

Abstract: A SALM (single anchor leg mooring) terminal is described, of the type which includes apparatus mounted on the moored vessel for applying tension to the anchor leg so as to avoid the need for a large float at its upper end, which is of simple and reliable construction and which occupies little or no space on the permanently moored vessel. The system includes a yoke having a middle portion pivotally connected to the moored vessel, an inner end connected to the top of the anchor leg, and an outer end which lies outboard of the ship and which carries a counter weight, so that downward force applied by the counter weight produces an upward force on the anchor leg. By mounting the counter weight outboard of the vessel, large up-and-down swinging movement of the yoke can be accommodated without drastic modification of the vessel, and a simple pivoting system can be utilized to apply the necessary tension to the anchor leg.

Abstract: A data interface for a railcar truck assembly, to transmit the outputs of transducers located on the rotating axle to circuits on the stationary frame of the truck. The data transmission system includes a group of several light emitting elements located on the axle and angularly spaced thereabout, and with all elements driven simultaneously at a high frequency to produce modulated light representing data. A light sensitive cell on the frame receives the light, to generate a signal which passes through a high-pass filter and is demodulated or demultiplexed to provide an output representing the transducer signals on the rotating axle. The photocell is spaced far enough from the axle, that it is outside the circle of interrupted illumination, so that the photocell is always within the half power beam of at least one of the light emitters on the axle.

Abstract: A system particularly suited for residential use for monitoring various input sensors and for controlling various output devices including heat and air condition units, control motors, and alarms.

Abstract: Architecture for step-oriented pipeline data processing is disclosed utilizing a plurality of cascaded modules, each module including a programmable general purpose processor and a read/write random access memory. The memory of each module, shared with the next module in cascade serves as an output memory for the processor and the input memory for the next processor. An additional memory is provided to serve as the input memory of the first module, and each module is provided with a memory, which may be a read-out memory, to store a program for the processor. Each module is further provided with a logic network for resolving a potential memory sharing conflict by awarding priority to the processor of the module.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for assessing the condition of a patient in circulatory shock by measuring the peripheral or skin temperature of the patient, as by measuring the difference between the patient's toe temperature and ambient temperature, which is more accurate than heretofore. The gradient of the toe-minus-ambient temperature difference is calculated, and an indication of poor condition is given if the toe-minus-ambient temperature difference does not rise by at least a predetermined amount such as 3.degree. C. within a predetermined period such as ten hours. Instead of taking only the difference between the temperature at one toe and ambient, the temperatures at both large toes of the patient are taken and the difference between the higher of the two toe temperatures minus ambient is utilized in the calculations that provide an indication of patient condition.

Abstract: Apparatus which can be utilized on a drilling rig to aid in rotating drill pipe sections to connect and disconnect them, which uses a cat's head chain device to rotate the pipes but which avoids the danger arising when workmen wrap the chain around a pipe. The apparatus includes a jaw assembly which can be installed around a pipe section, and which has teeth on its inner surface to engage the pipe and sprockets on its outside to engage the cat's head chain so the chain can turn the jaw assembly. A stationary frame surrounds the jaw assembly while permitting it to rotate therewithin, the frame also carrying a backup roller to keep the chain engaged with the sprockets of the jaw assembly.

Abstract: An offshore oil production terminal system is described which includes a transfer structure having a nonrotatable turret anchored to the sea floor and a rotatable portion fixed to a dedicated storage vessel, and also a fluid conduit extending from the seabed up through the turret to a fluid swivel and from the rotatable portion of the fluid swivel to the vessel, which facilitates use of a moderate cost fluid swivel. A choke located on the nonrotatable turret, decreases the high pressure of oil from the seabed (e.g. 2000 psi) to a moderate pressure (e.g. 200 psi) for passage through the fluid swivel, so that a moderate pressure fluid swivel can be utilized. The turret has a control deck at the same level as the vessel deck, to facilitate entry of personnel to operate controls directly connected to valves at the seabed without requiring rotational joints between the controls and the devices they operate.

Abstract: An improved servo demodulator channel employing a transconductance balanced modulator as a polarity switch, an AGC amplifier and a signal separation circuit. A transconductance balanced modulator comprises two amplification transistors and four output transistors which together form two signal channels, each comprised of an amplification transistor connected in parallel to two output transistors. In a specific embodiment, the transistors are n-p-n- transistors, the emitters of the two output transistors associated with a given channel being connected to the collector of the amplification transistor. The transconductance balanced modulator is configured so that the two amplification transistors are interconnected as a differential amplifier, and the base electrode of an output transistor in one signal channel is connected to the base electrode of an output transistor in the other signal channel, the base electrodes of the other two output transistors also being interconnected.

Abstract: A method is provided for detecting cracks and other imperfections in a solar cell, which includes scanning a narrow light beam back and forth across the cell in a raster pattern, while monitoring the electrical output of the cell to find locations where the electrical output varies significantly. The electrical output can be monitored on a television type screen containing a raster pattern with each point on the screen corresponding to a point on the solar cell surface, and with the brightness of each point on the screen corresponding to the electrical output from the cell which was produced when the light beam was at the corresponding point on the cell. The technique can be utilized to scan a large array of interconnected solar cells, to determine which ones are defective.

Abstract: An offshore oil production terminal system is described, of the type which includes a tall transfer structure that has a nonrotatable tower anchored to the sea floor and a rotatable portion that rotates with respect to the nonrotatable tower and is connected to a dedicated storage vessel. A fluid conduit of the system has a nonrotatable portion extending from the sea bed up alongside and through the tower to a fluid swivel at the top of the tower, the conduit also having a rotatable portion extending from the fluid swivel to the vessel. A choke located in the nonrotatable tower along the fluid conduit, decreases the high pressure of oil from the sea bed (e.g. 2,000 psi) to a moderate pressure (e.g. 200 psi) for passage through the fluid swivel, so that a moderate pressure fluid swivel can be utilized. In a system wherein the rotatable transfer structure portion is fixed to the vessel, the tower has a control deck at substantially the same level as the vessel deck and with a circular periphery.

Abstract: An arrangement for connecting an underwater product distribution unit (PDU) to a hose that extends up to a ship, which is simple in construction and yet which enables the hose structure to apply considerable torque to rotate the outer portion of the PDU to follow the ship as it drifts about the PDU. The coupling includes a rigid pipe extending largely perpendicular to the vertical axis of the PDU, with an outer end of the pipe connected to a hose leading to the ship and an inner end of the pipe pivotally connected to the rotatable portion of the PDU in a joint that permits the pipe to pivot up and down.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for defining coordinates of an object intersecting a predefined plane. More particularly, the invention provides a means for generating first and second light beams and a means for sweeping the first and second light beams across the predefined plane. A continuous optical sensor, which could be a plurality of solar cells, is provided around a portion of the periphery of the predefined plane so that each light beam when swept across the plane intersects a portion of the optical sensor. Each light beam is swept across the plane by a rotating reflective surface. The reflective surfaces are rotated by respective motors which have control systems configured so that both light beams cannot simultaneously irradiate the optical sensor. A means for generating timing pulses when each light beam defines a predetermined reference angle is provided.

Abstract: A solid state flasher relay of the type for switching an AC or a DC voltage across first and second loads interconnected at a common junction. More specifically, a solid state flasher relay is disclosed wherein shunting transistors are selectively controlled so that an AC or a DC voltage applied across two input lines connected to the first and second loads can be either shunted from the first input line to the common junction thereby providing the voltage across the second load, or shunted from the second input line to the common junction thereby applying the voltage across a first load.

Abstract: A buoy, for mooring vessels, has a rotatable turntable on the top, which rotates about the vertical axis of the buoy. A rigid mooring yoke is pivotably coupled to vessels at one end, and has the other end pivotably coupled to the buoy through structure that positions the coupling point at a location such that any tendency for the buoy to turn over in response to angular movement of the yoke and forces applied by the yoke from the vessel is prevented.

Abstract: A printer/plotter system for producing a multiple color hard copy output in response to digital input data. The system includes one or more impact hammers, each capable of printing a single dot with the hammers being arranged to selectively print dots along a defined print line. The system further includes an ink ribbon having multiple zones of different colors carrying encoded identifying indicia. In response to input data defining a dot pattern and the color in which it is to be printed, the ribbon is searched to position the first identified ribbon color zone in front of the impact hammers. After the pattern for that color is printed, the ribbon is again searched and the next identified color zone is moved into the print station, i.e. in front of the impact hammers, and the pattern associated therewith is printed. A paper control system is provided to move the paper to be printed upon in a forward direction as information is printed in each color.

Abstract: An array processor particularly useful in performing calculations utilizing data from two distinct two-dimensional arrays. More particularly, the array processor provided by the invention incorporates multiplication, addition, subtraction, transfer and storage means whereby arithmetic and storage operations, and two-dimensional array access operations can be conducted in parallel, thereby reducing the time required for complex and cumulative vector computations which could be associated with voice digital encoding and decoding systems. An architecture scheme is described which allows parallel operations to be effected, and a simplified addressing means is disclosed for vectorally accessing locations within two two-dimensional arrays. In addition, a coding and instruction scheme is disclosed which is compatible with the disclosed architecture.

Abstract: A thermal energy storage apparatus and method in which containers holding a salt hydrate heat storage material are rotated by convection currents created in a bath liquid surrounding the containers, thereby increasing the life of the heat storage material without having to supply energy for an externally located rotating means. More specifically, an enclosure for a bath liquid is provided, the enclosure containing two vertically-extending baffles which together define a column of bath liquid in which the heat storage containers are rotatably mounted. A heat transfer means is provided at the bottom of the column between the two baffles and a heat removal means is provided at the top. As heat is transferred to the bath liquid, a convection current is created which in turn rotates the containers while heat energy is being transferred from the bath liquid to the salt hydrate material.