Abstract: A heating chamber for supplying heated air in a Brayton engine or gas turbine plant including a compressor and turbine. The heating chamber includes a solar energy receiver that receives solar energy, converts it to heat, and heats air from the compressor. To supply additional energy that may be required for the turbine, fuel is injected into the air stream and a catalyst downstream of the solar receiver reacts the fuel with the air to provide additional energy.

Abstract: A dual-axis magnetometer employs an electromagnet mounted by bender arms within a housing to permit pivotal vibration of the electromagnet with respect to the housing. The electromagnet is driven by an alternating current that causes it to vibrate in the presence of an external magnetic field having a component in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the electromagnet. Output signals are provided at conductors on opposite surfaces of the benders. By observing the relative magnitudes of the output signals and the relationships of their phases with that of the excitation signal, it is possible to determine the direction of that component of the external magnetic field that lies in a plane perpendicular to the electromagnet axis.

Abstract: A primed oscillator for microwave amplification includes a single tank conductor (16) coupled to a coupling conductor (17) by an interdigitated coupler (26). The coupling conductor (17) is connected to the cathode of an IMPATT diode (22) which is triggered by the application of a back-biasing trigger pulse that biases it into its negative-resistance region. When a keying pulse is applied to the IMPATT diode (22), the diode couples power through the interdigitated coupler (26) to the tank circuit (16) to cause oscillations that are initially in phase with any incoming signals, but the frequency of the oscillations is determined by the configuration of the tank circuit (16), not by the frequency of the incoming signal. If the incoming signal is near enough to the resonant frequency, and if the duration of the keying pulses is short enough, the output of the primed oscillator appears to a band-limited receiver to be an amplified version of the input signal.

Abstract: Apparatus for discriminating at a distance between one or more colored symbols displayed on the screen of a television receiver from a plurality of other symbols of different colors includes a colored filter which corresponds to the color of the symbol which is to be discriminated.

Abstract: This invention is a system that is capable of having a high dynamic range for the transmission of electrical information from an array of sensing devices to processing equipment via transmissions paths. A high gain quadrature multiplexer is coupled to the output of each pair of adjacent sensing devices and a low gain quadrature multiplexer is coupled to the output of each pair of adjacent sensing devices. The foregoing is arranged in such a manner that each sensing device is coupled to one channel of the multiplexer near it and to one channel of the adjacent multiplexer. A quadrature demultiplexer is coupled to the output of the high gain multiplexer and another quadrature demultiplexer is coupled to the output of the low gain multiplexer so that the faint signals received by the sensing devices will be passed to certain processing equipment through high gain channels and the loud signals detected by the sensing devices will be passed to processing equipment via low gain channels.

Abstract: Removal of magnetic coatings from computer memory discs is achieved by immersing the discs in a bath of a sulphuric-acid and glycerine solution while applying an electrical potential between electrodes in the bath, one of which is the disc itself. After removal of the disc from the sulphuric-acid glycerine solution, it is sequentially immersed in alcohol and then water; any remaining coating is next mechanically removed and then the disc is immersed in high purity water and dried.

Abstract: In a projectile including a spinning main housing and a despun canard frame having deflectable canards thereon, a pair of stator windings are disposed within the main housing and a cooperating pair of rotors are arranged within the canard frame. The first stator windings and corresponding rotor generate prime power and permit control of the rotational position of the canard frame while the second stator windings and associated rotor allow control of the deflectable canards.

Abstract: A digitizing system includes a first plurality of spaced parallel grid conductors and a second plurality of spaced parallel grid conductors orthogonal to the first plurality of spaced parallel grid conductors. The location of a movable coil arranged on a pen or cursor is determined for each plurality of grid conductors coarsely by sampling the voltage induced in one of the grid conductors from a signal applied to the coil to determine whether the coil is above or below this grid conductor. Through careful selection, a very few grid conductors can be sampled to quickly locate the two grid conductors immediately adjacent to the center of the driven coil. The ratio of the voltages present on these two grid conductors is matched against a list of known ratios representing various positions between the two grid conductors.

Abstract: An angular accelerometer comprising a pair of misaligned, spaced apart, cantilevered optical fibers whereby angular accelerations occasion modulation of an optical signal coupled between the two spaced apart, cantilevered-beam optical fibers.

Abstract: Sensing of acoustic waves is achieved by providing spaced apart stationary and cantilevered optic fibers whereby inertial forces created by acoustic signals modulate an optical signal carried by the fibers through vibration of the cantilevered fiber.

Abstract: A high efficiency storage laser is achieved by pumping a Tm:LiYF.sub.4 laser from an electrically excited XeBr* fluorescer.

Abstract: An infrared source comprising an electrically powered, hollow cylindrical rod which operates at lower temperatures and yet has no decrease in output power is configured by increasing the outside diameter of the rod and inserting grooves therein which provide cavities increasing the apparent surface emissivity of the rod.

Abstract: A sensibe heat storage unit is provided which has a "step function" thermal gradient, and is constructed so as to have alternated regions of different thermal conductivity along the flow path through the unit such that, in one embodiment, there are spaced elements within the storage unit having transverse conductivities higher than the conductivity of the material in the spaces therebetween. This permits discharge of the storage unit at a uniform temperature until the storage unit is emptied.

Abstract: An improved knife edge system which enables testing of even high numerical aperture optics is achieved by using a microscope objective to gather the light from a small pinhole and fill a large optic under test, and in conjunction with a special eye piece permits viewing of the surface of the optic under test.

Abstract: Simulated shooting at displayed images on the screen of a television receiver using an untethered, simulated gun provides indication on the screen of where the gun was pointed at the time of trigger pull. This is achieved by flashing the screen white subsequent a trigger pull in order that a photosensor within the gun will be responsive to short segments of horizontal raster lines such that by counting vertical lines and time intervals with respect to vertical and horizontal synchronization pulses, respectively, identification of where on the screen the gun was pointing is achieved, permitting a symbol to be displayed upon the screen at that location.

Abstract: Multiple frequency, visible laser outputs are obtained from a 1064 nanometer input by tripling the output of an Nd:YAG laser and using the 355 nanometer radiation for downconversion by pumping a Tm:LiYF.sub.4 crystal.

Abstract: A fiber optic angular accelerometer is provided by employing a flexible membrane having an optical fiber attached thereto, an input optical fiber for coupling light to the fiber attached to the flexible membrane and an output optical fiber for receiving light from the optical fiber attached to the flexible membrane whereby angular accelerations will occasion flexing of the flexible membrane and cause the optical fiber attached thereto to pivot about the point of attachment and occasion a change in light transmitted between the input and output optical fibers.

Abstract: A compact low-cost laser is provided by employing a solid state laser rod which is pumped by the optical radiation from the direct combustion of a metal in a flowing oxygen atmosphere.

Abstract: A magnetometer which includes a pair of spaced apart optical fibers at least one of which comprises a cantilevered beam having a dipolar magnet thereon such that fluctuations of the magnetic H field will cause fluctuating mechanical torque on the magnet which will be applied to the cantilevered optical fiber to deflect same and occasion modulation of an optical signal transmitted between the two fibers.

Abstract: Video images derived from a video recording medium (such as a video disc or tape) using a video playback unit are displayed on the screen of a cathode ray tube display simultaneously with video images generated from a microprocessor-controlled video game. The video game permits a user to manually control the position of some of the generated video images displayed. Signals in the horizontal interval portion of each field from the video playback unit are related to the video images in the pictorial portion of each such field and identify certain characteristics of the video images such as the location of the video images. This information is used in such a manner that the video images from the video playback unit can interact with the video images from the video game.