Abstract: A color cathode ray tube display apparatus is provided with compensation for errors due to interfering magnetic fields in which a deflection yoke causes the electron beams to raster scan across the tube, a convergence assembly on the neck of the cathode ray tube adjusting the beam convergence. Errors in the waveforms suppied to the radial convergence assembly are caused by high frequency magnetic field coupling between the yoke and the convergence assembly via the internal magnetic structure 7 of the cathode ray tube. A compensating coil 11, placed adjacent the convergence coil unit 12, 16 supplies compensating current through resistor 20 to the amplifier 15 driving the convergence coil unit, thus avoiding a fringe on the left-hand side of the screen. Alternatively, compensating current can be derived from the line flyback pulse or the logic signal initiating line flyback.

Abstract: A drive system for a plasma display device includes a background sustain generator which is divided between a discrete analog circuit and an integrated driver chip. The integrated driver chip includes low impedance switch pairs controlled by a pair of comparators which prevent the sustain signal from being degraded during discharge of the panel. By partitioning the elements of the sustain signal generator between discrete and integrated elements, optimum integration cost, circuit performance and system reliability are achieved.

Abstract: In shadow mask color cathode-ray tube apparatus, the shadow mask is provided with slits or rows of slots extending from side to side of the mask and a line raster is constrained so that the lines of the raster are colinear with the slits, there being just one slit to each line of the raster. Open loop control may be used to achieve colinearity, but closed loop control is preferred. Beam position signals may be drived from the shadow mask by sensing secondary emission from different phosphors on the gun side of the mask or be sensing currents generated in the mask. In the preferred embodiment, the beams are dithered as they traverse the raster and the difference in the currents generated by a beam at the mask and at the conductive layer at the tube screen is detected. The first fundamental of the difference current indicates by its amplitude and phase the amount and direction of the misregistration of a beam and a slit. Different beams are distinguished by frequency multiplexing.

Abstract: A piano pedal assembly includes a plurality of pedals attached to a support member. The support member is of unitary construction, and includes a flat surface area having depressions therein adapted to contain the pedals in the assembly. Each pedal contains a pivot pin which fits into openings on the surface area. The pedals are maintained within their respective depressions by a plurality of clips which attach to the flat surface area of said support assembly to maintain said pins within said depression.

Abstract: A toilet flush system designed for manual control of the amount of water used for a toilet flush cycle uses a tank ball, flapper valve, or other type valves to control the closing of a reservoir outlet at selected times prior to or upon completion of the normal flush cycle. The tank ball or flapper valve is modified to overcome its buoyancy such that it rapidly closes the tank reservoir to thereby terminate the flush cycle when the handle of the toilet is released. By maintaining the handle in the operated position, the individual flush cycle can be controlled dependent on the waste to be disposed of, thus permitting a significant saving in fresh water. The buoyancy of the valve is overcome by utilizing a water absorbing material such as sponge material within the valve which, when primed, increases the weight of the valve.

Abstract: A D.C. gaseous discharge display panel operated in a storage mode uses a layer of resistive material over the cathodes of the display. In addition to protecting the electrodes from ion bombardment induced sputtering during discharge, the material provides a resistance to each discharge cell, provides isolation between individual cathodes by reducing discharge spreading along the cathode conductors and prevents surface charge building during panel operation. By utilizing a combination of metal and insulator in the resistance layer, the D.C. discharge can be sustained at lower operating voltage, permitting a reduction in the power requirements of the panel.

Abstract: In plasma display panels requiring interstitial spacer elements within the display area to provide and maintain a uniform discharge gap, the spacers are positioned between lines which constitute the display. The lines adjacent the spacer elements experience a significant decrease in operating margin. This margin decrease is compensated for by either jogging the lines adjacent the spacers outwardly, by widening the lines in the affected areas or a combination of both. Various embodiments for providing this compensation are illustrated and described.

Abstract: A plasma panel arrangement for storing, displaying and selectively shifting information from one place therein to another includes a panel filled with an illuminable gas, and horizontal and vertical parallel conductor arrays disposed on opposite sides of the panel, the coordinate intersections of the conductors defining gaseous discharge cells. The vertical conductors are sequentially driven by a multi-phase drive system, and the panel includes a plurality of data lines for entering information. The data as entered is sequentially shifted left or right in a horizontal direction in a single line display. In a multi-row display, the system provides left or right shifting of one character row while holding the display of the other character rows. The instant invention makes the plasma shift technology competitive in speed to X-Y matrix addressed panels, but at a much reduced circuit cost.

Abstract: A gas panel fabrication method includes forming a first set of dielectrically coated parallel conductors on a glass plate, forming a metal spacer layer over the first conductors, oxidizing those areas of the metal spacer layer which are between the first conductors, forming a second set of dielectrically coated parallel conductors over the spacer layer in orthogonal relationship with the first conductors, etching the unoxidized areas of the spacer layer from between the second conductors, and forming a cover plate to hold an ionizable gas adjacent to the orthogonal conductors.

Abstract: A high resolution gaseous discharge display and/or memory device comprises a panel array of bistable charge storage areas designated gaseous discharge cells or sites, each cell having an associated pair of coordinate orthogonal conductors defining the cell walls which, when appropriately energized, produce a confined gaseous discharge in the selected sites. The conductors are insulated from direct contact with the gas by a dielectric insulator, the dielectric insulator being composed of a layer of refractory material having high secondary emission characteristics such as a Group IIA oxide doped with lithium a Group IA element, to prevent degradation of the dielectric during operation, to increase the static margin of the panel and improve the stability of the maximum and minimum sustain voltages, thereby providing stable operating voltages and extending the life of the gaseous discharge panel.

Abstract: A plasma discharge display device is operated at a high frequency above the response range of the inherent wall charge storage phenomenon and utilizes a refresh buffer. The vertical drive selection includes a pair of shift registers operated in parallel into which data from the host or associated controller is loaded, with an individual driver associated with each register stage. The horizontal lines are addressed through associated shift registers in an even-odd interlace sequence to generate a display on a horizontal scan basis. The horizontal drivers are referenced at the level and frequency of the high frequency energizing signals, while the vertical drivers are selectively set to ground or a positive a.c. voltage according to the state of associated register cells. By using the high frequency signal in the horizontal axis as a floating reference and unique selection techniques, the display is operated by low voltage signals.

Abstract: A batch fabrication process to produce plasma display panels uses a multiple processing technique in which a series of individual plate patterns are simultaneously developed on a large master plate. When the master plate processing is completed and inspected, individual plates with associated tubulation members are provided and placed over the individual non-defective plate patterns on the master plate and sealed. The master plate is then divided into individual plates by conventional glass separation techniques such as cutting, scribing, etc. and the individual panels thus formed are completed by bakeout, backfill with an ionizable gas and tubulation tip-off. This permits plasma display panel fabrication in a batch mode using conventional fabrication techniques, permitting multiple plasma panel fabrications in a single process cycle.

Abstract: A collapsible self-storing bucksaw includes the blade, a compression member, a tension member, and a pair of handle members. The handle assembly comprise a pair of hollow tubular members which fit together in telescopic fashion. When disassembled, the tension member fits within the compression member, while the compression member and saw blade fit within the handle assembly. In the disassembled state, the handle includes threaded fastening members connected to opposite ends of the tension member to hold the component within the handle assembly. The beneficial effects of a bucksaw are thus provided in a strong lightweight structure adapted for hunting, fishing, back-packing, camping, and similar outdoor recreational activities.

Abstract: In driving gas panel or plasma display devices, characters are generated on the panel display as a sequence of dots by applying appropriate drive signals to selected orthogonal conductors, each conductor requiring an associated driver. In a low character count small plasma display such as a single row display utilizing a 5.times.7 dot character matrix, a significant load is presented to the horizontal drivers, while a substantial number of drivers are required to drive the vertical axis. To improve the load distribution and increase the drive efficiency of such a system, the horizontal conductors are divided into four distinct groups, with associated drivers, while a single set of vertical conductors is used to drive the vertical conductors, which are positioned to intersect each of the groups of horizontal conductors.

Abstract: For the decoupling between drive lines 9 for applying the firing and extinguishing pulses and supply lines 7 for supplying the sustain voltage, as well as for firing and maintaining discharges in gas discharge display devices, electrodes 2 are applied via conductive multi-layer zones 3 of the surrounding dielectric layer 4, from the supply lines 7 and also via counter-plates provided on the surface of the dielectric layer 4. The counter-plates are interconnected by lines 9, and form with associated counter-electrodes, respective capacitors in which one counter-plate vertical row can represent a first coordinate while the second coordinate may be formed by time-defined shifting of this vertical row of counter-plates in a direction which is vertical with respect to its extension.

Abstract: A system for addressing and controlling a gaseous discharge display or memory device is adapted for intercommunication between a processor or controller and a gaseous discharge display device. Signals of write amplitude are selectively applied to ionize individual cells or a plurality of cells in the form of character slices or lines to form the elements of a display. To facilitate communication between low level control logic signals and high level write and sustain signals, one of the axes or sets of conductors is maintained at ground potential, while signals of full write or sustain amplitude are applied to the orthogonal conductors. Writing is generally accomplished by adding a write pulse to the trailing edge of the selected conductor.

Abstract: A gaseous discharge display and/or memory device comprises a pair of sealed glass plates having metallic conductor arrays formed thereon and insulated from contact with the gas by a dielectric layer. The crossover points of the conductors define the locations of the individual cells which are controlled by selective application of write, sustain, and erase signals. To permit uniform operation of individual cells, the plates must be maintained precisely spaced over their entire display surface. To effect this requirement in a large size panel, metallic spacers are secured to the upper surface of the conductors of the metallic conductor arrays prior to the formation of the dielectric layer, the size and number of these spacers being determined by the geometry and resolution of the gaseous discharge display device.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for the fabrication of a gas panel assembly with improved static and dynamic operating margins which includes depositing arrays of parallel lines as electrical conductors on a pair of glass plates, providing a dielectric layer over the parallel lines, baking out the respective glass plates in vacuum to eliminate residual gasses or impurities, depositing a layer of electron emissive refactory material over the dielectric of the glass plate assemblies at a prescribed elevated temperature range, and spacing the glass plates a specified distance apart with their arrays substantially orthogonal. This assembly is subsequently fired in an oven to seal the glass plates about their periphery while providing a chamber therebetween, the chamber evacuated and filled with an illuminable gas, the parallel lines at one end of each glass plate exposed for electrical contact and the electrical characteristics of the panel tested after fabrication.

Abstract: To compensate for the relatively wide variation in the electrical operating parameters of a gaseous discharge device resulting from varied physical characteristics, the amplitude of the signal used to sustain a discharge is determined, generated and controlled as a function of the physical characteristics of the panel. In operation, a plurality of sample cells are used for control purposes, and the sustain signal applied to the sample cells is incremented from zero during each sustain cycle until the sample cells are discharged, to determine the minimum sustain signal V.sub.S min. required to sustain the discharge. An offset circuit is used to increase the sustain signal by a predetermined amount above the V.sub.S min. level for panel operation, and a voltage regulator is connected in a closed loop arrangement with the sustain generator to automatically adjust the sustain signal to compensate for variation in the physical parameters of the device due to aging.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for the fabrication of a gaseous discharge display and/or memory device which provides a predetermined uniform gap between the inner walls of the gaseous discharge device without the use of spacer elements. Sealing about the panel periphery is provided by a devitrifiable seal glass, the viscosity of which is closely controlled as a function of time and temperature. The glass sealant, preferably in rod form, is extruded by mixing glass frit with a solvent-binder system to form a viscous slurry, extruding this slurry into rod form and thereafter sintering the rods in an oven under conditions whereby the glass sealant softens but does not reflow. The devitrifiable glass during the subsequent sealing process reflows and then crystallizes, and the viscous flow varies inversely as the crystallization.