Abstract: A scanning apparatus periodically sweeps a beam of light across a printed circuit board in a plurality of sweep paths. An associated detector is responsive to radiation from the printed circuit board for producing first and second signals indicating whether a conductor portion or substrate portion of the board is being swept. An associated automatic level control is responsive to the first and second signals for providing level adjusted output signals. The levels of the adjusted output signals are substantially the same for all printed circuit boards swept in the scanning apparatus.

Abstract: A scanning apparatus which periodically sweeps a beam of light across a printed circuit board along a plurality of sweep paths, includes a detector responsive to radiation from the printed circuit board as the board is swept by the beam of light. The detector is also responsive to first and second adjustment signals indicating whether a conductor portion or substrate portion of the board is being swept. An automatic level control is responsive to the first and second signals for providing level adjusted output signals via an adjustor coupled to the detector. The levels of the output signals form a ratio R substantially the same for all boards swept in the scanning apparatus.

Abstract: A multichip thermal conduction module has improved cooling in a housing having a board including chips mounted on the board. The housing is divided so as to form first and second cooling portions. The chips are in the first cooling portion. Several bellows extend into the first cooling portion so that each bellows is urged into deflecting contact with a respective chip. A plurality of heat conducting strands are mounted in each bellows and extend into the second cooling portion. A fluid coolant is directed to flow across the heat conducting strands.

Abstract: An apparatus for analyzing line sequential binary data generated by scanning a printed circuit board with a scanning laser apparatus is disclosed. The circuit board contains conducting strips on an electrically insulated substrate. The conductors can be characterized by the number and the locations of their corners and by their widths and by the widths of the substrate occurring between parallel and spaced apart conductors. The line sequential data when viewed together forms a two dimensional image array of the circuit board and the two dimensional array contains information about the conducting corners, widths, etc. The line sequential binary data is first smoothed by smoothing circuits to eliminate errors due to noise, scanning equipment tolerances, etc. Then the smoothed data in line sequential format is transmitted to a corner recognition and pairing circuit where the corner features of the conductors are recognized.

Abstract: A simplified storage logic array (SLA) circuit is disclosed. A pair of oppositely directed inverter circuits is connected between two column leads. The signal present on one lead is the complement of the other. Row circuits are provided for connection with the column leads which cause the state of the signals to change logic state in accordance with the connections between the row circuits and the column leads.

Abstract: A beam deflection system is provided with electrical circuitry for adaptively correcting the deflection of a beam of radiant energy in a scanning system incorporating a rotating scanning mirror to compensate for misalignment in facets of the mirror. With the use of an acousto-optic modulator providing a deflected beam at an angle dependent on the frequency of an acoustic drive signal, the orientation of the beam can be altered to compensate for the misaligned facets by varying the acoustic frequency. A sensor and bridge circuit signal the position of a beam scan. A memory stores the value of the frequency for scans by each facet, the value being altered with each scan to optimize the frequency. A drift compensation circuit provides for an averaging of the parameter values, and provides a voltage to adjust the balance of the bridge to drive the average value towards a reference value.

Abstract: A non-coherent receiving system is provided with a novel triple-bit matched filter detector system which provides two outputs indicative of the data stream being detected. A preliminary or soft decision is made concerning the state of the bits in the data stream. One of the outputs provides a best estimate of state of the data bit being detected and the other output provides the second best estimate of the state of the data bits being detected. The incoming data stream is processed and modified as it is shifted through a plurality of shift registers in real time employing the data bits subsequently detected. A controller is provided to make a plurality of predetermined evaluations of the state of the bits in the data stream and to provide a final or hard decision of the correct state of the data bits previously detected.

Abstract: A system and method for protecting electrostatic sensitive devices from damage caused by electrostatic discharge therethrough when being placed in electrical interconnection in an operating system is described. Electrostatic sensitive devices are mounted on a printed circuit carrier and have all ground circuits electrically connected to a common juncture. A guide block for cooperating with a guide pin during insertion is mounted on the printed circuit assembly. All guide pins are electrically coupled in common to a discharge potential. A spring contact is mounted in the guide block and electrically coupled to the common juncture, and is arranged for making contact with the guide pin prior to electrical contact of any signal pins with any connector terminals, whereby static charge is discharged through the discharge path without causing damage to the electrostatic sensitive device.

Abstract: During the manufacture of Josephson superconducting devices, it is necessary to provide on a substrate a base electrode, a counter electrode and a small tunnel barrier area therebetween. A novel method of making all three of these active elements in the same vacuum chamber without having to remove the substrate from the vacuum chamber is provided so that the tunnel barrier area is accurately made to a predetermined size and without the danger of contamination. The novel structure is made as a substantially planarized laminate in the vacuum chamber and the tunnel barrier area is defined in a supplemental step.

Abstract: An apparatus for and a method of Dynamic Subchannel Allocation permitting easily field modifiable assignment of Input/Output (I/O) subchannels to I/O channels. Many present day medium-to-large scale computers have an I/O unit(s) with a fixed number of I/O ports or I/O channels for the transmission of information between the computer and peripheral devices. Improvements to these I/O channels, now common in the art, permit multiple peripheral devices to be coupled to the computer through a single I/O channel. Each of these multiple peripheral devices may be said to communicate through an I/O subchannel. A given I/O subchannel designation logically specifies the hardware within the shared I/O channel that is dedicated to communication with the corresponding one of the multiple peripheral devices coupled to that shared I/O channel. The present invention is an improvement which provides for allocation of I/O subchannels to I/O channels in the field rather than at time of manufacture.

Abstract: In a high speed data processing system, there is provided a circuit for shifting either right or left as data is transmitted to or from the main storage unit. Apparatus for high speed parallel byte shifting is connected to the data bus which connects the main storage unit to the system and comprises logic which selects predetermined byte lines. Information from the individually selected byte lines is temporarily stored in parallel buffer registers and subsequently returned to a different byte line to provide byte shifting without the requirement of shift registers or complex logic.

Abstract: In a digital data acquisition system, there is provided a coherent direct sequence spread spectrum receiving system. The coherent receiving system comprises an independent carrier tracking loop and three independent branches for detecting and locking on to a received psuedonoise data signal. The psuedonoise data signal being transmitted is provided with a time slot or discrete time portion during which no data is modulated onto the carrier. The carrier signal which is not phase modulated with digital data is tracked by the tracking loop so that the absolute phase of the carrier is never lost. The psuedonoise data signals are now recoverable in a coherent direct sequence spread spectrum receiver without the requirement of absolute phase determination or non-coherent detection.

Abstract: An apparatus for and a method of correcting chromatic aberration in a multiwavelength input light beam deflection system incorporating a magneto-optic diffraction grating is disclosed. The diffraction grating generates a chromatic aberration induced plurality of first order light beams from the multiwavelength input light beam, each different wavelength light beam being deflected a correspondingly different angle .lambda. by the diffraction grating. Correction plates, designed to provide zero chromatic correction for a wavelength .lambda..sub.o with corresponding positive and negative chromatic correction for wavelengths about the wavelength .lambda..sub.

Abstract: A ranging apparatus is provided having an encoded waveform signal which is generated by completely random sequence generator without second order statistics so that the waveform signal has a remote statistical probability of being analyzed. The modulated radio frequency waveform is transmitted to an object and the reflected signal is received by the ranging apparatus which comprises a digital solid state read-write memory arranged to have information written into the memory at a fixed frequency and arranged to have the information read out of the solid state read-write memory at a variable frequency to provide the equivalent of a rotating memory. The digital logic employed in the ranging apparatus is extremely accurate and not subject to drift and changes which could occur in analog type systems. The implementation of the ranging apparatus is accomplished with economical commercially available components thus providing an improved digital ranging apparatus.

Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed, for mechanically agitating, in a non-reciprocating manner, a permalloy composition used in an electroplating procedure, in such a way as to apply a film of improved uniformity of composition and thickness thus avoiding limitations of prior electroplating processes which, due to uneven boundary layer flow patterns caused by reciprocating agitation, result in non-uniformities in film composition and thickness.

Abstract: A portable electric hot air rework tool for directing a stream of turbulent hot air through removable and replaceable nozzles with a selectably sized orifice to predetermined size localized areas of a printed circuit assembly until a temperature sufficient to melt solder is achieved, thereby facilitating the soldering/desoldering of circuit components or parts of components mounted thereon. The apparatus essentially comprises a portable work station having upper and lower heat tubes, or plenums, through which a blower-forced stream of air made turbulent by turbulators with contra-pitched blades is directed, an adjustable support grid for supporting the pc assembly, within the directed air stream and a three-position switch for controlling the temperature and flow of the air in the heat tubes. An alignment positional indicator aids in precise location of the printed circuit assembly.

Abstract: An intelligent terminal is provided having a small number of dedicated function keys, a telephone numerical key pad and an elongated visual line display mounted on a small flat terminal housing. Activation of the system causes the associated micro processor in the terminal housing to present a plurality of functions on the line display. Depression of a function key which is opposite one of the functions and dedicated to the key generates a signal indicative of the function key being depressed. The micro processor is programmed to present a different and new set of functions to said line display each time a function key is depressed until a result or answer is finally presented on said line display.

Abstract: A removal tool for removing strip electrical connectors held in place by friction contact with electrical interconnection ends associated therewith is described. A pair of spaced apart wall members have inclined plane members associated therewith for engaging the undersurface of the connector to be removed for forcing the connector away from the support surface for sequentially disengaging the electrical interconnecting pins as the removal tool is moved axially along the longitudinal length of the connector.

Abstract: A beam feedback synchronization system for optical sweeping systems is disclosed. The system includes a multi-faceted rotating reflection mirror which acts on a collimated light beam such as a laser beam, to cause it to sweep periodically in parallel straight lines across a rotating photoconducting drum. A circular reflector is positioned at a critical position between the rotating reflection mirror and the rotating photoconducting drum. This circular reflector causes a portion of this light to be split off from the main beam and reflected back upon a photodetection device which is positioned in close proximity to the rotating reflection mirror. The electrical signals from the photodetection device are amplified and modified before being applied as periodic synchronizing feedback signals to the character generator from which the data information is emanating.

Abstract: A switching circuit for automatically selecting one of a plurality of normally operable asynchronous oscillators is provided with a selection switch for selecting a new oscillator while the formerly selected oscillator is still producing an output. The switching circuit employs the output of the newly selected oscillator to disable the formerly selected oscillator and to subsequently enable the output of the newly selected oscillator to be coupled to the oscillator output of the switching circuit, thus, preventing switch-over from one oscillator to the other during a metastable period.