Abstract: A vending machine has a carousel containing several rotatable trays stacked one above another. The trays carry and present for vending selected items, such as food and merchandise. The carousel is contained in a housing or canister and is part of an integrated assembly with a coin container. The carousel is filled at a central depot rather than at the site where the machine is installed for use by customers. The customer locations have the cabinet of the machine. Fixed in the cabinet is a drive mechanism for the carousel and locating and guide members which enable integrated assemblies to be removed from the cabinet and fresh assemblies, with the carousel trays loaded at the central depot, to be installed in place of the removed assemblies. The coin box when empty is equipped with a mechanism which is set to enable coins to drop into the container and is automatically reset so as to close the opening when the assembly is removed from the cabinet.

Abstract: An inverter power supply system (DC input, AC output) with a bridge type power stage having switching devices (transistors) in each arm is used to create an AC output voltage across the bridge center terminals. The transistors execute numerous switching cycles per period to create an output waveform that has a low frequency AC component together with a high frequency AC component that is removed via a low pass filter. Unless some means is provided to prevent it, a DC component is usually present at the output of the inverter as well. This DC component will cause saturation in transformer coupled loads with attendant excessive inverter device currents unless means are provided to limit or eliminate the DC component of the output voltage.

Abstract: A phase conjugate interferometer has a partially reflective conventional mirror placed in front of and in close proximity to a phase conjugate mirror using internally self pumped phase conjugation in barium titanate or other photorefractive material. The reflective surface may be the surface of the phase conjugate mirror. An optical system under test is illuminated with coherent light and the wavefront at the exit pupil thereof is imaged through a beam splitter onto the reflective surface (imaging being unnecessary if the distance between the exit pupil and the reflective surface is sufficiently small that negligible diffraction occurs over that distance). Part of the wavefront is reflected at the reflective surface of the partially reflecting conventional mirror. The transmitted portion of the wavefront is incident on the phase conjugate mirror where a wavefront reversed replica of the incident wave is produced and reflected.

Abstract: A rotary piston engine having a commutator valve in a cooperating connection with the output shaft so as to supply and remove pressure medium to and from tooth chambers. Said engine further comprises passages which end adjacent to the commutator valve in ellipse shaped control openings. The commutator valve is integrally formed with the output shaft and all control channels are in the outer circumference of the commutator valve in the form of grooves which are parallel to the axis. Lands are provided between said grooves. The width of the lands defining said grooves is selected such that the width of the lands changes alternately, one land having a width approximately corresponding to the smaller width of the control ellipse, while the alternate land has a width which is increased by an oversize over the width of the smaller width of said control ellipse.

Abstract: An ultrafast traveling wave optical modulator capable of functioning at frequencies greater than 100 GHz having an optical waveguide parallel to a transmission line. The optical waveguide is in a substrate of electro-optic material (GaAs with GaAlAs layers forming the optical waveguide). The transmission line is a pair of coplanar electrodes on the substrate. A superstrate having an effective dielectric constant substantially equal to the square of the index of refraction of the substrate (a GaAs body in which the electric field on the line is substantially confined) eliminates the mismatch in velocity of propagation of the traveling electrical and optical signals thereby increasing the response time of the modulator so that it can function when the electrical modulating signal on the line exceeds 100 GHz in bandwidth.

Abstract: Electro-optic probes which are adapted to be placed in the fringe field from electrical signals propagating on conductors (which may be conductors of an integrated circuit) and which modulate optical pulses passing therethrough, for example by modulating the polarization of the light in accordance with the Pockels effect, utilize thin bodies of electro-optic material, such as a single crystal of GaAs in a manner to reduce physical damage to the probe and to the circuit and to precisely locate the probe in the field of the signal being measured, such as adjacent to the conductor of interest. The electro-optic material that is used may also be implanted with high energy ions of low Z materials (e.g.

Abstract: Contrast medium compositions for delineation of bowel during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the abdomen are provided for oral or rectal administration. The compositions consist of aqueous suspensions of clay in finely-divided particles which expose a large surface area to the suspending water and impose a condition of dynamic anisotropy upon the adjacent water, resulting in reduction predominantly in the transverse relaxation time of the water and subsequent loss of signal from the bowel lumen.

Abstract: The quality of sound delivered to a subscriber viewing a channel which has been scrambled using sync suppression scrambling, particularly when the program is being transmitted with stereo sound, is improved by processing the aural component of the TV signal at the head end of the system prior to transmission over the cable or other communication link to the subscribers. The amplitude of the aural signal is reduced so as to compensate for the increase in amplitude which occurs when the composite TV signal is descrambled by restoring the amplitude of the suppressed synchronizing signals thereof. No changes are required in the existing subscriber equipment and the subscribers may continue to use the descramblers supplied to them without any modification thereof. Noises, such as are perceived as a "buzz" like sound, and loss of stereo separation of the aural signal upon descrambling are avoided.

Abstract: Coherent transfer of laser energy between laser fields with high efficiency (85-95%) is obtained by energy coupling of nearly copropagating (intersecting) laser beams in mono-atomic vapor and provides an output beam of high power when nearly equal energy pulses are tuned near resonance with the transition of the atom of the vapor (e.g., potassium vapor at 230.degree.-260.degree. C.). The frequencies of the beams differ by approximately the inverse of the excited state lifetime of the atoms for optimum combining (coupling efficiency).

Abstract: An electrical signal sampling system uses ultrashort optical pulses (of the order of 10 ps of less) to probe the electrical field from the signal being sampled. The probe is comprised of a modulator in the form of a Fabry-Perot optical interferometer (FP) incorporating a thin film of electro-optic material which may either be an index varying or piezo-electric material. This material, incorporated within the FP and subjected to an electric field, will cause a change in optical transmission characteristic by changing the optical path difference of the FP cavity. The bandwidth for the edge of the transmission window of the FP becomes much greater (by at least approximately 10 times) than the bandwidth of the optical pulses. The thickness or index of the electro-optic material is then adjusted so that the spectrum of the optical pulse falls on one edge (preferably at the 50% transmission point) of the transmission window.

Abstract: New chemical reactions of 1,1,2-trifluoro-1,3-butadiene provide simple access to a series of new fluorinated alkene derivatives. These derivatives provide a simple, general methodology for the stereocontrolled preparation of 2-fluoro-2-alkenoate esters and related monofluoroalkene derivatives which include fluoro analogs of known insecticides, pheromones or pharmaceuticals. A new method for the preparation of 1,1,2-trifluoro-1,3-butadiene is also provided.

Abstract: A sol-gel method for making gradient-index glass and a novel composition therefor, comprising at least a ternary system of metal alkoxides.

Abstract: A solar ventilator (1) is fittable to an edge (2) having first and second sides corresponding to first and second regions. The edge can be of a barrier, e.g. of a movable window of a motor vehicle or of a building. The ventilator has a suspension (5) for suspending the ventilator from the edge so that the ventilator will be adjacent the first region. The ventilator has a housing (4) having inlet and outlet portions (11,12) for enabling air to be transferred therebetween from a region to the other region. A fan (13) is comprised by the housing so as to enable the transfer of air. A solar generator (15) drives the fan. The ventilator may be arranged for direct or indirect reception of solar radiation.

Abstract: A mixer which provides axial flow in a non-uniform flow field, such as may be established by gas which is sparged into a medium being mixed in a tank, and provides large axial flow volume without flooding and withstands variable loads on the blades thereof, thereby providing for reliable operation. The mixer impeller is made up of paddle shaped blades, which near their tips (e.g., at 90% of the radius of the impeller from its axis of rotation) are of a width at least 40% of the impeller'a diameter. The blades also having camber, twist and flat sections. The flat sections being at least in the center area of the base of the blades. The hub for attaching the blades to the shaft of the mixer has radially extending arms with flat surfaces. The base of the blades are spaced from the shaft to define areas therebetween.

Abstract: A calorimetry system for measurement of the heating value of coal, having a combustor 24 and a mixing unit 30 wherein heat from combustion gases is transferred to air. The system has a gravimetric feeder 64 for providing coal at a measured mass feed rate; the coal including any moisture present therein. The coal is pulverized in an air-driven mill or pulverizer 14 which is fed coal from the feeder and is separated by a cyclone separator 16 into two streams; one carrying coal and air mixed together in a controlled ratio to the combustor. The air which drives the separator, together with fines of the coal and moisture is fed to an afterburner 26 of the combustor so that the thermal dynamics of the entire coal stream is involved in the heating value measurement.

Abstract: A CW pumped regenerative laser amplifier system capable of producing amplified laser pulses of variable repetition rate (e.g., 10 Hz to 10 kHz) with high energy stability. The regenerative amplifier is seeded by pulses injected into the optical cavity of the amplifier from a CW pumped modelocked laser.

Abstract: A calorimetry system for measurement of the heating value of coal having a combustor 24 and a mixing unit 30 wherein heat from combustion gases is transferred to air. The system has a gravimetric feeder 64 for providing coal at a measured mass feed rate; the coal including any moisture present therein. The coal is pulverized in an air-driven mill or pulverizer 14 which is fed coal from the feeder and is separated by a cyclone separator 16 into two streams; one carrying coal and air mixed together in a controlled ratio to the combustor. The air which drives the separator, together with fines of the coal and moisture is fed to an afterburner 26 of the combustor so that the thermal dynamics of the entire coal stream is involved in the heating value measurement. Instrumentatoin measures the flow rates of cooling air, primary air which carries the coal streams into the combustor and secondary combustion air as well as the mass flow rates of the coal into the combustor as measured with the gravimetric feeder.

Abstract: A level sensor system for liquids and liquid slurries utilizes a capacitive probe which extends longitudinally into a liquid or liquid slurry containing vessel, and which may contain inner and outer sensors spaced from each other in an assembly with a flow control screen at its lower end to permit egress of liquid and exclusion of the solid slurry material, thereby enabling both liquid and slurry level to be determined. The capacitance presented by each sensor is converted into a digital output in repetitive cycles having a reference phase, where a reference voltage is generated by charging a reference capacitor while a counter is registering counts and until a pre-determined count is reached, and in a computing phase while counts are accumulated until the capacitance presented by the probe charges to a voltage equal to the reference voltage.