Abstract: An automated shopping order entry system has particularly advantageous features for use in a supermarket having a delicatessen station. A processor subsystem, a customer subsystem, and an employee subsystem are provided. The customer subsystem can be located in the view of customers entering at a customer entrance that is typically remote from the delicatessen station. The customer can select delicatessen items and gets a printout of item selection and of estimated waiting time based on an accumulated variable workload that depends on items ordered by customers. Shopping efficiency is increased by making automated shopping available to the customer at an advantageous place and time in the shopping pattern, and by handling waiting time in an advantageous manner.

Abstract: The invention utilizes a commercially available so-called "quad-pack" of logic gates; i.e. four exclusive OR or exclusive NOR gates mounted in a package. With minimal use of additional components and minimal circuit coupling, a quad-pack of this type is used to produce a detector circuit with FM limiting and an approximate 90.degree. phase shift. The circuit can be used for detecting an FM modulated video signal.

Abstract: Optical devices and techniques are disclosed for sensing properties of an environment with improved stability and lower cost. In a disclosed embodiment, there is provided a substrate having an index of refraction n.sub.s. A waveguide layer is provided and has a surface adjacent the substrate, the waveguide layer having an index of refraction n.sub.f that is greater than n.sub.s. A superstrate is provided adjacent the opposing surface of the waveguide layer, the superstrate having an index of refraction n.sub.c that is less than n.sub.f, the index of refraction of the superstrate being affected by the environment. An optical beam is injected into the waveguide layer such that at least two modes of the beam propagate in the waveguide layer. The interfering product of said at least two modes of the beam which have propagated through the waveguide layer is then detected.

Abstract: The invention is directed to an improved method and apparatus for monitoring the status of an AC electrical transmission line connected between first and second locations. In a disclosed embodiment of the method of the invention, first signal parameter values are generated, for the first location, by time integrating between zero-crossings of an AC signal parameter measured at the first location. Second signal parameter values are generated, for the second location, by time integrating between zero-crossings of the AC signal parameter measured at the second location. The second signal parameter values are transmitted to the first location. In a form of this embodiment, the second signal parameter values transmitted for each of the three phases are transmitted only for time periods between successive zero-crossings beginning with a zero-crossing of one sense (e.g.

Abstract: A method and system are disclosed for producing a photographic image of an X-ray pattern, including the following steps: converting the X-ray pattern to a first pattern of light; exposing a photographic film to said first pattern of light; detecting the light at elemental regions of the first pattern; generating a second pattern of light in a pattern which depends on the detected light; and exposing the photographic film to the second pattern of light. The generating of the second pattern of light includes generating light from a one-dimensional array of light emitters, and moving the array with respect to the photographic film. The disclosed invention provides improvement on the standard radiographic method in the following ways: (1) The recorded film contrast in low X-ray exposure regions that ordinarily would have been recorded in under-exposed regions on a film's characteristic curve will be increased significantly.

Abstract: Borehole NMR logging apparatus and methods, and methods for the interpretation thereof. A logging tool is provided which produces a strong, static and homogeneous magnetic field B.sub.0 in a Volume of an adjacent formation on one side of the tool to measure nuclear magnetic resonance characteristics thereof. In the preferred embodiment, the tool has an RF antenna mounted on the outside of the metal body of the tool, directing focussed oscillating magnetic fields B.sub.1 at said Volume to polarize or tip the magnetic moments of hydrogen nuclei of fluids within rock pores. The same antenna can be used to receive signals of proton precession in the Volume of interest immediately after transmission of the RF polarizing field B.sub.1. Extremely rapid damping of the antenna between the transmitting and receiving modes of operation is accomplished by a Q-switch disclosed herein. The invention provides for the direct measurement of NMR decay having transverse relaxation time T.sub.

Abstract: The disclosed invention takes advantage of the fact that the speech information and processing needed for successful animation lip-synching is actually much less than the information and processing which is needed for identifying individual words, as in the traditional speech recognition task, The disclosed embodiment utilizes linear prediction to obtain speech parameters which can be used to identify phonemes from a limited set corresponding to visually distinctive mouth positions. In the disclosed embodiment there is set forth an apparatus for producing lip-synching for a spoken sound track. Means are provided for storing, for each of a number of mouth positions, an unvoiced phonetic information representation associated with a mouth position. Means, responsive to samples of sound from the sound track, are provided for generating unvoiced phonetic information signals for the samples.

Abstract: A vertical recording system using a rigid disk medium with high recording density has a substrate made of alumina silicate resin glass and a vertical magnetic anisotropic film located on said substrate. Said anisotropic film has an easy axis of magnetization in the thickness direction of the film, and the hard axis of magnetization in the film plane. The maximum surface roughness R.sub.max of said disk is less than 50 .ANG., and a magnetic recording head which moves relative to the medium operates with said head contacted with the medium. A recording density higher than 200 KFRPI (kilo flux reversal per inch) is obtained by the present invention.

Abstract: Well logging techniques and apparatus are disclosed for determining formation resistivity at different radial depths of investigation and with greater accuracy than prior techniques, for determining the existence, locations and properties of beds and caves, and for determining changes in the size of a borehole.

Abstract: An improved stylus is disclosed for generating acoustic wave energy for use in an acoustic digitizer system wherein an operator-designated stylus position is determined from measurements performed on acoustic energy generated at the stylus. A stylus body is provided and has a generally elongated shape. A tip member extends from the front of the stylus body, the tip member preferably being elongated and narrowing to a point at its front end. A pair of spaced conductive wires are disposed in said tip member, the wires preferably being substantially parallel and having their front ends terminating forwardly in the tip member. The wires extend rearwardly in the tip member, and means are provided for coupling the wires to a source of electrical potential. In the preferred embodiment, the tip member is tubular, and the front ends of the wire pair terminate in the tubular bore of the tip member at a position where the tip member begins to narrow to a point.

Abstract: A pulse transformer for a flyback converter type switching power source has a ferrite core (10,11) with a pair of side legs (10a, 11a) and a center leg (10b, 11b) which is shorter than said side leg so that an air gap G is provided in the magnetic path along the center leg, and the windings on a bobbin (15) on said ferrite core is improved by positioning said gap G at the end portion of the center leg close to the end of the bobbin, and a dielectric belt (16b) on the bobbin (15) so that no winding exists around said gap. Thus, leakage flux around said gap does not interlink with the windings, and no eddy current flows in the windings, and a partial temperature raise in the windings is prevented.

Abstract: A solid state light modulator apparatus is disclosed for displaying images represented by video signals. The system includes an array of semiconductor devices having electrodes which extend over the tops of their respective devices. The devices are used, in conjuction with related circuitry, for applying sampled video signals to the electrodes. The resulting charge pattern deforms a conductive/reflective layer, and the deformations are converted to a viewable image by an optical system. The electrodes are divided into separate fingers which decreases the effective grating line spacing of the light modulator and accordingly increases resolution. Electrodes of the array have at least three electrically connected fingers such that at least one of the fingers is interleaved with fingers of an electrode in a row above in said array and at least another of said fingers is interleaved with fingers of an electrode in a row below in said array.

Abstract: A solid state light modulator apparatus for displaying images represented by video signals. The system includes an array of semiconductor devices having electrodes which extend over the tops of their respective devices. The devices are used, in conjunction with related circuitry, for applying sampled video signals to the electrodes. The resulting charge pattern deforms a concuctive/reflective layer, and the deformations are converted to a viewable image by an optical system. The electrodes are divided into separated fingers which decreases the effective grating line spacing of the light modulator and accordingly increases resolution. Also, the electrodes are at two different levels, and the spurious light immunity of the light modulator is improved.

Abstract: A method and system are disclosed for producing a photographic image of an X-ray pattern, including the following steps: converting the X-ray pattern to a first pattern of light; exposing a photographic film to said first pattern of light; detecting the light at elemental regions of the first pattern; generating a second pattern of light in a pattern which depends on the detected light; and exposing the photographic film to the second pattern of light. The disclosed invention provides improvement on the standard radiographic method in the following ways: (1) The recorded film contrast in low X-ray exposure regions that ordinarily would have been recorded in under-exposed regions of the film's characteristic curve will be increased significantly. (2) The overall range of light transmission that must be viewed by the radiologist will be decreased without sacrificing diagnostic information.

Abstract: Method and apparatus are disclosed for determining pupillary response parameters, such as latency, time of acceleration of constriction, and speed of constriction. In a form of the disclosed method a signal is derived which is representative of measured pupil size as a function of time after a visible light stimulus. The signal is modified to remove therefrom artifacts due to eye movement. Pupillary response parameters can be obtained from the modified signal. In a preferred embodiment, the modifying of the signal includes fitting curves to different portions of the signal, correcting at least one of the fitted curves, and deriving the modified signal from the curves, as corrected.

Abstract: A method and system for computer programming provides a graphical editor function for creation and editing of a computer program by manipulation of graphical images on a high-resolution display. The program is specified in terms of a definition language which can be executed by a simulation function. This function simulates execution of the program on a different, target processor as if the program were expressed in a different language which can be executed by the target processor; in addition the simulation function incorporates a simulation of the external environment of the target processor and of the interaction of the program with that environment. The graphical display of the program is animated during execution so that the user can observe and check the program's operation. When the simulated execution is satisfactory the definition-language version of the program is tanslated into the language executable on the target processor.

Abstract: A strained In.sub.y Ga.sub.l-y As layer is employed in a GaAs/Al.sub.x Ga.sub.l-x As transistor. Since the bandgap of In.sub.y Ga.sub.l-y As is much smaller than that of GaAs, there is no need for a troublesome large-mole-fraction of aluminum in the Al.sub.x Ga.sub.l-x As layer in order to maintain a large bandgap discontinuity. This and other advantages of the structure set forth result in devices having improved operating characteristics.

Abstract: A phase equalizer with a pair of ceramic resonators with different resonant frequencies than each other provides convex group delay time characteristics, which compensates for the concave group delay time characteristics of a ceramic filter. Thus, the flat group delay time characteristics in the combination of a ceramic filter and a phase equalizer is obtained, and excellent speech quality in analog signal transmission and/or excellent error rate in data transmission is obtained, while keeping excellent selectivity in a wireless communication system.