Abstract: A wire having enhanced solderability characteristics is formed by applying a very thin uniform coat of silver to a clean copper wire substrate. A coat of tin is plated on top of the silver. Heat treatment causes the silver and tin to form an interface alloy. The device can be other than a wire and the substrate can be other than copper.

Abstract: The present invention provides, in a preferred embodiment, a thermostatic switch having a bimetal blade connected, at one end, to a terminal arm by means of a fastener. In accordance with the present invention, a weld electrically connects the one end of the blade to the terminal arm. The weld is located so that the fastener is located between the weld and a central, flexing portion of the bimetal blade. As a result of the placement of the weld and the fastener, weakening of the central flexing portion of the blade does not occur as is the case of a prior art connection in which the blade is welded to terminal arm.

Abstract: In a thermostatic control system a solid state motor controller is provided by reproducing a potentiometer tracking with a CPU producing appropriate complimentary square wave signals having the duty cycle thereof proportional to a sensed temperature. The square wave signals are fed to circuits which are disposed across two output resistors and the effective resistance of the two resistors are varied in response to the duty cycle.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to a pencil sharpener device in which the sharpening element is slidably mounted within a support member for movement between a retracted position when not in use to a protracted position for use in sharpening the pencil. When in use, the sharpening element is movable to its protracted position to permit pencil shavings to fall free out of the support member during the sharpening operation. The disclosure further provides an eraser element or a combined eraser/marker assembly to be removably associated with the device.

Abstract: A valveless pneumatic hammer comprising a backhead assembly at one end of a hollow casing and a bit assembly at the other end of the casing, a rod extending into the casing and having a passage out to atmosphere at the other end of the assembly, a chamber divider in the backhead end of the casing having a control rod projecting into the casing, a piston having a large bore in one end and a smaller bore end and the larger bore end being adapted to cooperate with the chamber divider end for the sealing of the larger bore, the piston reciprocating between a first position with the smaller bore end against the bit assembly, and a second position with the piston displaced towards the backhead assembly, a first chamber with the piston in the first position, a second chamber with the piston in the second position, first and second fluid supply paths through the backhead assembly, between chamber divider walls and the casing wall, first and second fluid exhaust paths from the first and second chambers, respectively o

Abstract: In a method for producing a reed relay, and a reed relay produced in accordance therewith, for switching r.f. currents at high voltages, it is proposed to arrange the coil, which is wound upon a normal bobbin with flanges on both sides, within a low-ohmic coil shielding by mounting the bobbin with the coil in an outer tube of brass, fitting an inner tube, likewise of brass, in the bobbin and connecting the two tubes by annular end disks placed on the two ends and joined with the tubes by pressing. The whole assembly comprising the bobbin, the coil and the shielding is then mounted on a two-piece bobbin carrier, and the vacuum glass tube of the r.f. reed switch is inserted into the bearing tube of the bobbin carrier and preferable fixed therein by means of a silicone hose.

Abstract: An automatic fingerprint enrollment and identification technique is provided for automatically processing an input image represented by pixels having either a one or zero value. The automatic processing involves a series of steps in which the initial processing is a rough screening technique for eliminating a reasonable portion of the noise while passing through almost all of the minutia. As the steps proceed, the processing becomes more complex to provide a tighter screening out of noise while passing through as much of the minutia as possible. The later steps by operating on relatively fewer minutia or anomaly points that the earlier steps can be economical though more complex so as to be more discriminate than the earlier steps. The processing provides an optimum trade off between enrolling as large a proportion of the population as possible while minimizing the number of false identification errors.

Abstract: To provide for the rapid vaporization of a liquid, a porous body is impregnated with the liquid. Then the liquid contained in the porous body is heated, so as to cause a rapid vaporization of the liquid in the porous body which liquid continually migrates through the porous body under the effect of its pumping and suction capabilities. The whole of the mass of liquid to be vaporized is stored in the body in impregnated form, without the presence of a permanent liquid layer. The liquid is heated directly by passing an electric current through the porous body, the density of the porous body being chosen so as to provide a liquid retention capacity allowing a variation of the energy dissipated in time to be obtained in accordance with a predetermined law which is a function of the density chosen for the porous body. Thus interchangeable porous bodies can be used having different densities and allowing different curves of variation of the energy dissipated in time to be obtained, respectively.

Abstract: An apparatus for supplying a pallet to a machine tool has two rows of pallet supports and a pallet carrier between the two rows. The two rows of pallet supports consist of one or more modules so that a change of the number of pallet supports can be easily achieved. The pallet carrier moves along and at a right angle to the two rows, and can be positioned under a desired pallet. The pallet carrier lifts the desired pallet and transfers it to the machine tool by only linear movement.

Abstract: Tap or current collector for rotary or linear potentiometers, displacement pick-ups, variable resistances, brushes/collector junctions of electric motors, etc., wherein the tapping part on which the slider elements as such are mounted and which performs a relative movement with respect to the tapped path or collector carries the slider elements having individual resilient and freely movable slider fingers, at least in the contact area proper, and which are mounted on a mounting block in such a manner, relative to the sense of displacement, that irrespective of the sense in which the tap moves at any time, one of the slider elements is always pushed, and the other one is always pulled so that even the influences on the tapped or transmitted electric signal of dynamical effects developed by high accelerations are compensated.

Abstract: A slide projector control module and control system to operate one or more slide projectors located at one or more different locations, each slide projector having a slide tray and being connected with the control module. Conventional telephone lines are used to connect each slide projector and each module at each location for viewing the same slide at all locations. Slide projectors at all locations are capable of being rendered operative and the slide projector is operative only at its location with its associated control module when properly selected. Each module includes switches to connect and disconnect the remote and local projector from a key pad which provides touch tone signals capable of being muted from telephone lines. The control system is operable from a local or remote site to permit conferences to discuss a series of visuals and to recall the visuals as needed at each site of a multi-site and/or multi-person conference.

Abstract: A mounting panel is provided for removable elements, in particular for educational toys, for forming simple "in the air" electronic assemblies of the "Eiffel tower" assembly type, from elementary components, comprising a support pierced with holes opening into at least one surface of the support and containing respectively tufts of hairs parallel to each other. These tufts of hairs form studs which may be used for fitting longitudinally therein the legs of components to be mounted on the panel. For facilitating the fabrication of such a panel the tufts of parallel hairs are engaged in the respective holes of the support by leaving a part of the hairs extending outwardly in the manner of the hairs of a brush and then the tufts of hairs are cut flush with the face of the support in which the holes open out.

Abstract: A hand-held fastening element driving tool comprising a housing with a handle. A barrel holder with a barrel is free to move axially in the housing. The barrel holder has a extension enclosed in the housing and is provided with a cylindrical shoulder. This shoulder acts, through the agency of an elastic element, upon a corresponding shoulder of the housing. Another elastic element is fitted between the outer side surface of the barrel holder shoulder and the housing. A fastening element magazine has one end thereof connected to the barrel holder, and its other end is loosely articulated to the handle.

Abstract: An apparatus for the internal chucking of a soft three-jaw chuck on lathes is provided to enable the three jaws to be positioned so that they can be bored out to a high precise chucking dimension. The apparatus includes two rotatable triangular clamping plates that are disposed in any preselected rotational position relative to each other. The plates each have an external configuration of an equilateral triangle and are adapted to be received in the soft three-jaw chuck in a desired angular position such that common positions of contact result from the jaws of the three-jaw chuck from the edges of the two clamping plates which are canted one relative to the other. The desired chucking dimension range is covered by the relative dimensions of the two clamping plates.

Abstract: A device for guiding a film in a cine camera comprises a channelled plate pierced with a window for filming and along the rear face of which is displaced the film. A presser member is disposed behind the film, opposite the filming window in the channelled plate, and means are provided for applying the presser member under pressure against the film and the channelled plate, when the film is stopped during filming, and for eliminating this pressure during the descending movement of the film. The means controlling the pressure exerted by the presser member on the film comprise a periodic magnetic field generator producing, during the descending movement of the film, a magnetic film acting on the presser member, made of ferromagnetic material, to eliminate the pressure of the presser member on the film during the descent thereof.

Abstract: A poly-.epsilon.-caprolactone resin having an enhanced stability to hydrolysis is obtained by ring-opening polymerization of .epsilon.-caprolactone with 0.01 to 5.0% by weight, based on the .epsilon.

Abstract: An automatic dart stretcher for removal of the fullness of material from a portion of a garment around a dart seam to faciliate the sewing of a pocket welting onto the garment proximate thereto; two pairs clamping feet are provided to hold the material in an orthogonal and a parallel direction relative to the seam; the two pairs of clamping feet being orthogonally movable relative to each other, one clamping foot of each pair of clamping being movable together in a first direction and one clamping foot of each pair of feet being movable in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.

Abstract: The printer is for printing a continuous fan-folded paper web having series of perforations at each side edge thereof which is adapted to be fed into the printer from the bottom of the printer. The printer comprises an upper housing member swingably supported by a lower housing member so that the upper housing member is movable between a closed position for the printing operation and an opened position at which an accessible space is provided between the bottom of the upper housing member and the lower housing member. The upper housing member includes a printing mechanism and a pin-tractor mechanism for feeding the paper web a portion of which extends outwardly downwardly from the bottom of the upper housing member. The lower housing member has a feed-in opening at the bottom thereof for the paper web.