Abstract: A method for attaching a fused-quartz mirror to a conductive metal substrate which comprises the steps of tinning one surface of a fused-quartz mirror with a solder of substantially pure indium, tinning a metallic substrate with an indium eutectic alloy consisting essentially of indium, bismuth, lead and tin having a melting point substantially below that of indium, heating the eutectic alloy to a temperature substantially above its melting point, but below that of the solder, floating the mirror into place, and subsequently cooling the alloy to a temperature substantially below its melting point.

Abstract: A vane-type internal combustion engine in which, during a power stroke, a spring is compressed which delivers back power to the engine during a non-powered stroke and provides relatively even torque.

Abstract: A predetermined amount of segregation is introduced into a molten sample of a composite that exhibits the Soret effect, such amount approximating the amount of segregation resulting from directional solidification of the sample. The molten sample is then directionally solidified starting at the end opposite the end richer in the constituent that would migrate toward the cooler part of a liquid solution of the composite maintained in a temperature gradient. Since solidification commences at the end deficient in such constituent, its migration toward the interface between the solid and liquid during the solidification will compensate for the deficiency yielding a more homogeneous product.

Abstract: A descent device is provided for emergency descent from tall structures and for lowering objects from high elevations such as a hovering helicopter. The device includes a rotating spool having a cable wound thereon for descent and a rotation-retarding vane member which rotates in a fluid cylinder. An adjustable bypass is provided for the fluid as the vane member rotates therein so that the speed of descent can be adjustably controlled.

Abstract: A combined docking and grasping device for use with a manipulator arm on a docking vehicle and the like for mechanically connecting a docking vehicle with an orbital payload having a receptacle for receiving the device therein.The device includes a pair of opposing jaw members having opposing serrated surfaces for grasping an object and a triangular cam portion on an outer surface for insertion and interlocking with an orbital payload.

Abstract: A device for tensioning test specimens within an hermetically sealed chamber. The device is characterized by a support column adapted to be received within an insulated, hermetically sealable chamber, a plurality of anchor pins mounted on the column for releasibly connecting thereto a plurality of test specimens, a plurality of axially displaceable pull rods received by the column in coaxial alignment with the anchor pins, one end of each pull rod being provided with a coupling for connecting the pull rod to a test specimen, while the opposite end of the pull rod is extended through a cover plate and adapted to be connected with a remotely related linear actuator through a connecting link including a load cell for measuring stress as the pull rod is placed in tension by the actuator.

Abstract: A mount for continuously orienting a collector dish relative to the sun in a system adapted to perform both diurnal and seasonal solar tracking. The mount is characterized by a rigid, angulated axle having a linear midportion supporting a collector dish, and oppositely extended end portions normally related to the midportion of the axle and received in spaced journals. The longitudinal axis of symmetry for said midportion of the axle is coincident with a seasonal axis while the axes of the journals are coincident with a diurnal axis paralleling the earth's polar axis. Drive means are provided for periodically displacing the axle about the diurnal axis at a substantially constant rate, while other drive means are provided for periodically indexing the dish through 1.degree.

Abstract: A notch filter for the selective attenuation of a narrow band of frequencies out of a larger band wherein a helical resonator is connected to an input circuit and an output circuit through discrete and equal capacitors, and a resistor is connected between the input and the output circuits.

Abstract: A tape record/playback system is tested by first deriving an analog test signal and a band-limited digital reference signal from a pseudo-noise (PN) sequence generator driven by a clock signal and recording said signals on respective tracks of the system during operation thereof in a record mode. During the playback mode of operation of the system, a delayed analog reference signal without time base variations is reconstructed from the played back reference signal and compared with the played back test signal in order to obtain an error signal that is a measure of the performance of the system.

Abstract: A frequency modulated push-pull oscillator in which the non-linear characteristic of varactors producing frequency modulation is compensated for by an opposite non-linear characteristic of a field effect transistor (FET) providing modulating bias to the varactors.

Abstract: A signal transformation network which is uniquely characterized to exhibit a very low input impedance while maintaining a linear transfer characteristic when driven from a voltage source and when quiescently biased in the low microampere current range. In its simplest form, it consists of a tightly coupled two-transistor network in which a common emitter input stage is interconnected directly with an emitter follower stage to provide virtually 100 percent negative feedback to the base input of the common emitter stage. Bias to the network is supplied via the common tie point of the common emitter stage collector terminal and the emitter follower base stage terminal by a regulated constant current source, and the output of the circuit is taken from the collector of the emitter follower stage.

Abstract: An actuator device is provided for moving an artificial leg of a person having a prosthesis replacing an entire leg and hip joint. The device includes a first articulated hip joint assembly carried by the natural leg and a second articulated hip joint assembly carried by the prosthesis whereby energy from the movement of the natural leg is transferred by a compressible fluid from the first hip joint assembly to the second hip joint assembly for moving the artificial leg.

Abstract: An improved guide for use in aligning within a typewriter a sheet of paper preparatory to an application of typed indicia to a space thereof. The guide is characterized by a bellcrank lever, pivotally supported by a swatch of flexible material adhesively secured to a typewriter adjacent the V-guides thereof, and supporting at its distal end a space sight including a pair of orthogonally related legs positionable into and out of the path of a type slug for framing a targeted space to be struck by a slug in response to a depression of a selected key.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for converting thermal energy such as solar energy into mechanical motion for driving fluid pumps and the like. The thermal motor comprises an inner concentric cylinder carried by a stationary core member having a cylindrical disc plate fixed adjacent a lower portion thereof and extending radially therefrom, and an outer concentric cylinder rotatably carried on the disc plate defining a space between the inner and outer concentric cylinders. A spiral tubular member encircle the inner concentric cylinder and is contained within the space between said inner and outer cylinders having a first portion connected to the inner concentric cylinder and a second portion connected to the outer concentric cylinder. A heated fluid is conveyed through the tubular member and is periodically cooled causing the tubular member to expand and contract, thus causing the outer concentric cylinder to reciprocally rotate on the base plate accordingly.

Abstract: An attitude control system for a space vehicle in which angular rate signals are generated by rate gyros mounted closely adjacent to gimbaled engines at the rear of a vehicle, and wherein error signals representative of a commanded change in vehicle angle or attitude are obtained from a precision inertial platform located in the nose region of the vehicle. The rate gyro derived signals dominate at high frequencies where dynamic effects become significant, and platform signals dominate at low frequencies where precision signals are required for a steady vehicle attitude. The blended signals are applied in a conventional manner to control the gimbaling of vehicle engines about control axes.

Abstract: An improved lightweight heat exchanger particularly suited for use in systems having low volume flow, high longitudinal gradient and high effectiveness requirements. The heat exchanger is characterized by a shell of an annular configuration, an endless plate of minimal thickness and of a substantially uniformly convoluted configuration disposed within the annular shell for defining therewithin a plurality of endless, juxtaposed passages, each having a low Reynold's number and being of an annular configuration. A pair of manifolds disposed 180.degree. apart is mounted on the shell in communication with the passages through which counterflowing fluids having different temperatures are simultaneously introduced and extracted from the passageways for thus achieving a continuous transfer of heat through the convoluted plate.

Abstract: A system for remotely measuring velocities present in discrete volumes of air in which a CO.sub.2 laser beam is focused by a telescope at such a volume, a focal volume, and within the focusable range, near field, of the telescope. The back scatter, or reflected light, principally from the focal volume, passes back through the telescope and is frequency compared with the original frequency of the laser, and the difference frequency or frequencies represent particle velocities in that focal volume.

Abstract: A system for remotely measuring vertical and horizontal winds present in discrete volumes of air at selected locations above the ground. A laser beam is optically focused in range by a telescope, and the output beam is conically scanned at an angle .theta. about a vertical axis. The backscatter, or reflected light, from the ambient particulates in a volume of air, the focal volume, is detected for shifts in wavelength, and from these, horizontal and vertical wind components are computed.

Abstract: A photovoltaic cell array consisting of parallel columns of silicon filaments, each being doped to produce an inner region of one polarity type and an outer region of an opposite polarity type to thereby form a continuous radial semi-conductor junction. Spaced rows of electrical contacts alternately connect to the inner and outer regions to provide a plurality of electrical outputs which may be combined in parallel or in series.

Abstract: A solid state amplifier has an output transistor stage and an input transistor stage interconnected as a Darlington circuit. An interstage transistor interconnecting the collectors of the two stages of the Darlington circuit is connected with the first stage transistor in a compound configuration. When the load current furnished by the amplifier is less than a predetermined value, the output stage operates as a simple saturated switch with its base drive current flowing through the emitter-base junction of the first stage which produces no collector current because the base-emitter junction of the interstage transistor is reverse-biased. When the load current exceeds said predetermined value, the interstage transistor begins to conduct allowing the input and output stages to operate as a Darlington amplifier and diverting a significant portion of the base drive current of the output transistor back into the load.