Abstract: The claimed invention provides a self-actuating lenticular display assembly that places the lenticular image in intimate contact with the lenticular lens while maintaining the lenticular image separate from the lenticular lens to form the lenticular display. The lenticular display assembly further comprises a rigid back plate placed behind the lenticular display so that the lenticular image moves in a parallel plane between the lenticular lens and the rigid back plate, a motor mounted to the back plate to accomplish movement of the lenticular image in relation to the lenticular lens, alignment mechanisms that allow the lenticular image to be incrementally adjusted in relation to the lenticular lens, and different means for maintaining intimacy between the lenticular image and the lenticular lens, thus eliminating undesirable “soft spots” that may occur.

Abstract: In a time-versioned storage mechanism, data is stored as a plurality of records, each including at least one attribute, a time span indicating the time span for which the attribute is valid, an insertion time indicating when the record was created, and a type field. The type field indicates whether the record is a concrete record, a delta record that possibly modifies the attribute value of a previous concrete or delta record, or an archive record replacing one or more records that have been archived. The data is accessed to find an attribute value from the point of view of a specified viewpoint time, by retrieving only records with insertion times not later than said viewpoint time, and constructing an attribute value from the retrieved records. The data is updated only by adding concrete records or delta records, without modifying attribute values in the concrete records or delta records.

Abstract: A communication network (300) comprises a call server (302) and several fabric control modules (322, 326, 330-334) coupled to the call server (302) through a fabric application interface (306, 324, 328, 342). The fabric control modules are arranged to control circuit connections (310, 312) within, for example, a narrowband-broadband interface (304) in response to the call server. A management agent (338) coupled to the call server through a dedicated management interface (336) includes a memory (340) for storing network configuration information and a processor (339) arranged to provide the network configuration information to the call server over the dedicated management interface (336) to affect initial establishment of the fabric application interface (306). In this way, the fabric application interface (306) is optimized in relation to available resources and consequently provides a uniform view between the call server and a narrowband-broadband interface (304).

Abstract: A flexible thin film battery including a film layer and a porous cathode deposited on a portion of a film and a porous anode deposited on a portion of the film, with an electrolyte and separator layer positioned between the porous anode and the porous cathode. The electrolyte is preferably dried so the battery is activated when liquid contacts the electrolyte and separator layer. In a preferred embodiment, water swellable particles are included in the cell. The film layers are least partially sealed around the edges, confining the anode, cathode, and electrolyte and separator layer. The method of producing such a battery preferably includes printing various inks in a pattern on a polymeric film.

Abstract: A system, container, and a label for monitoring the use of a container. The label is ideally inserted into the wall of the container. The label preferably includes an indicating ink that incrementally changes color or changes shade when certain external energy sources are applied. The labeled container can be used in a system of monitoring, characterizing, and recording information and traits regarding containers wherein the incremental changes in the indicating ink are measured. The information, such as counting cycles of container use, is preferably machine-readable, as well as human-readable.

Abstract: The brushless electric motor (M) is provided with switching means (Q1-Q6) for selectively supplying current to the armature windings (U, V, W) of the motor (M) from a DC-power supply (1) The switching means (Q1-Q6) are controlled by measuring the back-electromotive forces developed in the windings (U, V, W) during operation and comparing these measurements with a high and low reference voltage, in such a way that each time a measured back-electromotive force with positive slope crosses the high reference voltage or a measured back-electromotive force with negative slope crosses the low reference voltage, a commutation signal is generated to commutate the switching means (Q1-Q6), this provides a highly simplified control of the switching means.

Abstract: An optical waveguide provided with a linearly chirped Bragg reflective grating can be employed as a device that provides linear dispersion compensation. The amount of the linear dispersion thereby provided can be rendered adjustable by adjustment of the magnitude of axial strain imposed upon the grating. If the chirp is purely linear, and if also, the strain is at all times uniform along the length of the grating, adjustment of the strain magnitude will have no such effect. This requires the presence of a quadratic chirp term, but such a term introduces its own transmission penalty. This penalty is compensated at least in part by causing the light to make a reflection in a second Bragg reflection grating identical with the first, but oriented to provide a quadratic component of chirp that has the opposite sign to that of the first Bragg reflection grating.

Abstract: A PMD (polarisation mode dispersion) emulator which provides at least first and second order emulation of PMD effects observed in fiber installed in the field consists of a small number of concatenated lengths of high birefringence fiber having an appropriate distribution of relative DGDs (differential group delays), and connected with random relative orientation. Varying some parameter, such as temperature distribution, allows the emulator to provide accelerated exploration of random fluctuations in PMD which, in the field, may require many weeks, or longer, to observe.

Abstract: A convertible stroller and shopping vehicle having a stroller portion and a shopping vehicle portion. The stroller portion includes a seat which is movable from a deployed position to a stowed position. In the deployed position, the invention is used as a stroller. The shopping vehicle portion includes a collapsible receptacle that can be oriented in one of two orientations. In an open orientation, the receptacle creates a shopping cart while in a collapsed orientation the invention can be used to transport bulk materials.

Abstract: A conveyor belt cleaner scraper blade for cleaning the surface of a conveyor belt. The scraper blade includes a base member adapted to be attached to a cross shaft of a conveyor belt cleaner and a wear section which extends outwardly from the base member to a scraping tip. The wear section includes a plurality of temperature sensors located along the length of the wear section, a plurality of wear sensors located along the length of the wear section, and one or more strain gage sensors located along the length of the wear section. Each of the sensors is in electrical communication with an electrical transmitter member that is adapted to provide an electrical output signal to a computer. The temperature sensors provide an indication of the temperature of the wear section at the location of each temperature sensor. The wear rate sensors provide an indication of the location of the scraping tip with respect to the base member as the wear section wears away and the tip moves closer to the base member.

Abstract: A friction wedge for a railroad car truck including a body and a wear member. The body includes a front face having a pocket adapted to removably receive the wear member. The pocket includes a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall extending outwardly from the bottom wall. The wear member includes a wear pad having a first wall and a connector member such as an adhesive layer attached to the first wall. The connector member removably attaches the first wall of the wear pad to the body. The peripheral side wall of the pocket extends around a side wall of the wear pad and prevents lateral sliding movement of the pad member with respect to the bottom wall of the pocket. The wear pad includes a second wall that is adapted to slidably engage the side frame of a railroad car truck to provide dampened movement of the bolster of the truck. The wear pad may be easily removed from the pocket when worn and replaced with a new wear pad while the body may be reused.

Abstract: An optical amplifier comprises: at least first and second amplifier stages, each stage comprising a doped fiber and a pump source for providing pump light to the fiber. The input and output power of the amplifier is measured to enable automatic gain control. The input and output power is processed in order to derive target pump source levels for achieving a substantially constant gain, and the temporal response of the gain control loop is varied in dependence on the target pump source levels. The response time of the gain control loop is thus matched to the open loop gain of the amplifier, taking into account the combination and settings of the amplifier stages.

Abstract: The optical modulator comprising an optical input signal waveguide, first and second interferometric waveguide arms, a modulated output signal waveguide, a splitter for dividing the input signal between the first and second arms, and a combiner for recombining the signals, transmitted along each of the first and second arms into the output signal waveguide. The first and second electrodes each of a segmented structure having a plurality of elements each extending from a respective one of the first and second electrodes and each terminating at position adjacent a length of corresponding one of the first and second arms wherein only a proportion of the elements terminate at positions such as to have an electro-optic effect on a signal transmitted through the corresponding one of the arms. Thus, only proportion of the elements are in active in the sense that only they induce a phase shift in the signal transmitted through the respective one of the arms.

Abstract: A conveyor belt cleaner and tensioner assembly adapted to be attached to a cross shaft. The conveyor belt cleaner and tensioner assembly includes a mounting base adapted to be mounted to the cross shaft and an arm member having a first end and a second end. The first end of the arm member is pivotally attached to the mounting base for pivotal movement about a pivot axis. A scraper blade is attached to the second end of the arm member. A gas spring tensioner has a first end pivotally attached to the mounting base and a second end pivotally attached the arm member. The tensioner includes a housing and a ram having a first end located within the housing and a second end located externally of the housing. The ram is extendable and retractable with respect to the housing to thereby pivot the arm member and the scraper blade about the pivot axis. The scraper blade includes a metal scraping tip having an elastomeric wear-in tip.

Abstract: A data processing system has a searching mechanism for finding occurrences of a plurality of key strings within a target string. The searching mechanism forms a hash value from each of the key strings, and adds each key string to a collection of key strings having the same hash value. It then selects a plurality of symbol positions in the target string, and forms a hash value at each selected symbol position in the target string. This hash value is used to select one of the collections of key strings. Each key string in the selected collection of key strings is then compared with the target string.

Abstract: A filter assembly for filtering pond or aquarium water includes a container (1,2) with an inlet chamber (15) having an upstream region (36) and a downstream outlet (13) leading to an outlet chamber (22). A filter (16) is positioned in the inlet chamber (15) between the upstream region (36) and the outlet (13). In use, progressive clogging of the filter causes the water pressure in the upstream region (36) to rise until it reaches a predetermined threshold when a normally-closed relief valve (28,29) opens to allow water to pass from the upstream region (36) to the outlet chamber (22) without passing through the filter (16). The valve has a coloured valve stem (28) providing a visual indication that the valve is open and that the filter is blocked and requires cleaning. In one embodiment, the outlet chamber (22) contains a source (19) of ultra-violet radiation to which the flow of water is exposed, regardless of whether the valve (28,29) is in the open or closed condition.

Abstract: A method of operating Raman amplification pump lasers, especially in telecommunication systems, is described and claimed, in which the Raman pump laser output powers are modulated in characteristic fashions. Parameters of these characteristic modulations may be detected at remote locations (i.e. locations along the communications fibres) even in the presence of large amounts of noise. Thus, by detecting losses of signals indicative of the characteristic modulations, breaks in the communication fibres can be detected more reliably. The disappearance of these signals can then be used to shut down the typically high power Raman pump lasers, thereby reducing the possibility of high laser powers escaping from the broken fibres. The specification also described an improved method of detecting the disappearance of a data signal at an amplifier unit, using a periodic filter to split the incoming signal into two streams, the first stream comprising data and noise, and the second comprising noise only.

Abstract: In the situation that data switching is incorporated in a wide area telecommunications network it is advantageous to use a local area network protocol such as ethernet which allows network resources to be shared. However, this introduces a problem with respect to loops in the network and the possibility of infinite packet looping. If the known spanning tree algorithm is used to prevent infinite packet looping this is problematic because the known algorithm takes a relatively long time to take effect. An algorithm is described which is based on assumptions about the topology of the communications network and which is simpler and faster.

Abstract: It is found that the use of a multimode interference (MMI) section to flatten the pass-bands of an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer/demultiplexer or comb filter device introduces undesirable wavelength dispersion into those pass-bands if that MMI section mixes modes of more than two different orders, and if the grating of that device is a ‘uniform’ grating whose waveguides are equally (minimally) attenuating, and in which the optical path length difference between each adjacent pair of waveguides 40 of the array is the same.