Abstract: A glass photo tile is formed by edge slumping an optically-correct glass front in a mold at a superheated temperature substantially above the annealing temperature of the glass, then cooling down the edge-slumped glass front in the mold through an anneal-cooling curve followed by cooling to room temperature. A photographic print is laminated in the glass front with a transparent adhesive layer, and a back mounting is installed with an adhesive layer against a back side of the print to seal the print in the glass tile. For optically correct glass having an annealing temperature of about 1000.degree. F., the pre-heating temperature is within about 100.degree. F. of the annealing temperature, and the superheated temperature is about 1400.degree. F., and the anneal-cooling curve is a Fibonacci-formula curve. Preferrably, the photographic print is laminated to the front glass with a silicone adhesive layer, and the back mounting is a ribbed glass sealed to the print with a silicone adhesive layer.

Abstract: A golf swing training device has a compact device housing to be worn at the waist of a user on one hip which contains an inertial mass acceleration sensor for detecting when the user has moved the hip in a weight shift exceeding a given threshold level and for producing a sound output indicative of a correct weight shift for a golf swing. In one embodiment, the housing is a cylindrical tube, the sensor is a weighted metal ball held by a given retaining force of a magnet at one end of the tube, and the sound is produced by the ball striking a stop wall at the opposite end. When the user completes a hip turn and decelerates to a finish, the weighted ball travels back to the retaining end of the tube and produces a second sound which indicates correct completion of the golf swing. The device housing may have a fastener strip to allow it to be worn at an angle to vary the threshold weight shift force required.

Abstract: A pile assembly which is driven into the earth for building foundations of engineering and construction employs a leading pile comprising a hollow column having a plurality of openings formed in a side wall thereof and a lower sharpened tip end and an open upper end, a wedge component having a plurality of elongated wedge members. The wedge component is movable downwardly in a space within the column. The leading pile has a guide component for guiding said elongated wedge members through the openings of the column into the earth when the wedge means is depressed.

Abstract: A water-reacting absorbent cartridge for a release mechanism has multiple layers of water-absorbing paper material compressed into a solid, densified mass with a fraction of the original volume of the paper layers. The compacted cartridge may be wrapped in a tube of heat-shrink material with holes along its sides or may have adhesive interspersed between layers in order to keep the expansible paper layers together. Another water-reacting absorbent cartridge has multiple layers of a super absorbent material interspersed with layers of paper material compressed into a densified mass. The super absorbent material may be a powder dispersed in paper sheets, or in sheet form with paper layers interposed between. The expansible material may be contained in a jacket made of a water-permeable tightly-woven cotton fabric.

Abstract: An underground construction has: a circumference wall forming therein a cone shaped space; plural support members located at the circumference of the cone shaped space at vertically the same height; floor construction bodies each having plural bed beams and a floor portion, the ends of the bed beams being supported by the support members, and the floor portions being disposed in the middle of the cone shaped space at a fixed interval from the circumference wall.No pillars for supporting the floors are needed, thereby leaving a maximum clear space on the floors for use.

Abstract: A multi-channel band-gear system for a rotary joint has a ring gear assembly with a conducting ring band in electrical contact with corresponding conducting bands of a set of intermediary planetary gears, which in turn are in electrical contact with a conducting sun band of a sun gear assembly. The ring band is formed with a plurality of conducting segments which are electrically insulated from each other and positioned angularly in a circumferential direction of the ring gear, such that separate electrical power/signal channels are formed across the rotary joint. In a preferred embodiment having continuously connected channels, the ring band has four conducting segments at 90.degree. intervals, the sun band has two conducting segments at 180.degree. intervals, and three planetary bands are in rolling electrical contact at 120.degree. intervals between the ring band segments and the sun band segments, forming two continuously connected channels in a single layer of the band-gear system.

Abstract: A sensor device of the present invention is capable of surely detecting occurrence of a fire and a type of the fire. The sensor device includes a detection element made of an organic semiconductor element or an inorganic semiconductor element which is varied in characteristic value (i.e., resistance) thereof by both gas produced in a flaming-type fire and a smouldering-type fire and of which a variation in resistance by gas produced in a flaming-type fire is different in polarity from that by gas produced in a smouldering-type fire. A resistance of the detection element is extracted by a resistance extractor and then fed to a resistance decrease discriminator and a resistance increase discriminator, wherein a decrease or increase in resistance of the element is discriminated. An information output circuit outputs a predetermined signal depending on discrimination results provided by the discriminators, to thereby detect occurrence of a fire and/or a type of the fire.

Abstract: A media-on-demand system employs predictive memory caching for a media server and associated data storage device to meet requests from multiple clients for media programs stored on the data storage device. The system allocates a plurality of sections of the server memory buffer to accomodate requests for popular titles. When requests for a title are received from a first grouping of clients, the server scheduler establishes a first streaming data process for the requested media program by reading in the data blocks for the program and retaining the data blocks in memory for use by another group of clients if requested close enough in time to the first grouping such that the first data block of the media program is still retained in memory. Used data blocks are removed if no requests by another group of clients are made within a given time and the memory is full or if the title is of a low priority level.

Abstract: An interactive system is provided for playing a game, educational or instructional sequence in conjunction with a prerecorded multimedia presentation consisting of at least motion video, sound and accompanying text. The multimedia presentation is partitioned into time segments. The game sequence is also partitioned into task units that are synchronized with the time segments. The time address markers for the beginning and ending of each of the time segments initialize, execute and close each task unit of a programmed game sequence.A corresponding authoring system allows an author to design and implement the time-segmentation of the multimedia presentation and its functional interface with the game sequence.This system can be used for motivating instructional games based on music video, movies, animated cartoons and karaoke that provide the player with the same excitement and challenge of the popular video games.

Abstract: An underground construction has: a circumference wall forming therein a cone shaped space; plural support members located at the circumference of the cone shaped space at vertically the same height; floor construction bodies each having plural bed beams and a floor portion, the ends of the bed beams being supported by the support members, and the floor portions being disposed in the middle of the cone shaped space at a fixed interval from the circumference wall.No pillars for supporting the floors are needed, thereby leaving a maximum clear space on the floors for use.

Abstract: A threaded fastener has a standard part with a standard thread form characterized by thread walls with a standard included angle, and a modified part complementary to the standard part having a modified thread form characterized by thread walls which are symmetrically inclined with a modified included angle that is different from the standard included angle of the standard part's thread walls, such that the threads of one part make pre-loaded edge contact with the thread walls of the other part. The thread form of the modified part can have an included angle that is greater, less, or compound as compared to the included angle of the standard part. The standard part may be a bolt and the modified part a nut, or vice versa.