Abstract: A multiple layered bag comprising such materials that one surface of the bag degrades when it comes in contact with water, for example polyvinyl alcohol, while the other surface is water resistant, such that the bag can be used to collect moist materials, for example pet excrement, without exposing the bag handler to those moist materials, yet when the everted bag is subjected to an aqueous environment, with the liquid degradable surface exposed to the aqueous environment, all the components of the bag degrade. The bag degrades such that the remaining components of the bag and the contents thereof are easily flushed down the toilet.

Abstract: In a touch up kit for painting small surface areas, an outer container contains a paint or primer coating material and an inner container contains a catalyst for the paint or primer material. The inner container comprises a bottom seal member closing the bottom of the inner container and an upper seal member closing the top of the inner container. The inner container is nested in the mouth of the outer container. The upper seal member is pierceable by a blunt instrument such as the inlet tube of an aerosol spray canister and the bottom seal member is designed to be detached from the bottom of the inner container in response to downward pressure on the bottom seal member by the inlet tube of the aerosol canister.

Abstract: In a system for igniting detonation cord or shock tube, a plated through-hole in printed circuit board is coupled to a circuit to have high voltage and high current applied to the plated through-hole. The end of the detonation cord or shock tube is passed through the plated through-hole and formed into a knot to secure the detonation cord or shock tube in the plated through-hole. The voltage and current applied to the plated through-hole are of sufficient magnitude to explode the plated through-hole and ignite the detonation cord or shock tube.

Abstract: An apparatus for transcoding a coded moving picture sequence according to the present invention comprises a rate controller for adapting the scaling factor to perform the rate control over the coded moving picture sequence signal having a desired target bit rate.

Abstract: A robot arm mechanism includes a handling member for supporting and handling an object, a robot arm made up of at least four arm links, and a robot arm driving mechanism for driving the robot arm to assume its contracted and extended position. The robot arm comprises first and second arm links and a link retaining mechanism pivotably retaining the first and second arm links. The link retaining mechanism comprises first and second joint cross linkages similar in shape and each having two arms crossed to each other. The first joint cross linkage is integrally connected with one of the first and second arm links of the robot arm. The second joint cross linkage is integrally connected with the other one of the first and second arm links of the robot arm.

Abstract: Spectrographic instruments at remote site locations measure near infrared absorbance spectra for unknown materials and transmit the absorbance spectra to a central web site where, the measurements are standardized to be the same as if they were measured by a master instrument. The standardized absorbance spectra are then compared with a library of spectra stored at the central web site to select a subset of absorbance spectra from the library which most closely correlate with the absorbance spectrum received from the remote sites. The library spectra are obtained from measurements on materials, the measurable characteristics of which are known. From the selected subset, equations are developed relating the measurable characteristics of the unknown material to the absorbance spectra and from these equations, the measurable characteristics of the unknown materials are determined. The results of this analysis are then transmitted back to the remote site locations electronically.

Abstract: A linear compressor, comprises a fixed member formed with a hermetically sealed compression chamber, a movable member axially movably received in the compression chamber of the fixed member, a plurality of resilient members each intervening between the fixed member and the movable member, driving means for driving the movable member, damping means for damping vibrations of the fixed member, the damping means including a retaining member fixedly connected to the fixed member and a weight member axially movably supported by the retaining member, first detecting means for detecting a displacement of the movable member, second detecting means for detecting a displacement of the weight member, and controlling means for controlling the driving means to have the movable member perform a reciprocally linear motion to ensure that the vibrations of the fixed member are damped by the damping means.

Abstract: In an image browser for browsing a deck of hyperspectral images, the images of the deck are divided into square blocks each containing 25 pixels. The images are browsed by selecting foci of attention in selected images in sequence. Each time a focus of attention is selected, the image block containing that focus of attention is read out and displayed. Then if no new focus of attention has been selected by moving the focus of attention in the selected image or by changing the selected image, the image blocks surrounding the focus of attention in the selected image are read out and displayed in a spiral pattern until a new focus of attention is selected whereupon the process of read out and display starts again from the new focus of attention.

Abstract: In a system for segmenting a pixel based image, pixels containing image boundaries are identified. The image boundaries are then fattened by repeatedly adding fattening rows of pixels to the pixels containing boundaries to separate the remaining pixels into separate segments. The separate segments are then grown back to their original size before the boundaries were fattened. This operation has the effect of linking the boundaries together to separate the image into segments and to extend incomplete boundaries into complete boundaries around segments in the image.

Abstract: A linear compressor, comprises a retaining member, a fixed member supported by said retaining member and formed with a hermetically sealed compression chamber to receive a working fluid therein, a pair of pistons axially movably received in said compression chamber to assume respective compression positions, a pair of piston rods each having an outer peripheral portion and slidably movably supported by said fixed member, said piston rods respectively connected to said pistons to have said pistons axially move in said compression chamber, a plurality of magnet units mounted on each of said outer peripheral portions of said piston rods, each of said magnet units having a plurality of magnet segments each made of a permanent magnet and circumferentially arranged with neighboring two magnet segments different in magnetic pole, a plurality of electromagnet units supported by said retaining member to be axially spaced apart from each other in predetermined relationship with said magnet units, respectively, and resi

Abstract: In a system for estimating the launch point of a missile, Doppler shifted signals reflected from the missile as it travels from its launch point are used in a Kalman filter to estimate the missile position, velocity and acceleration, in earth centered fixed coordinates. The coordinate system is rotated to a rotated earth fixed (REF) coordinate system in which the X-axis passes through the estimated missile launch point and the Z-axis is made parallel to the missile azimuth as represented by the missile velocity determined by the Kalman filter. The error in the downrange component of the missile launch point is then reduced to a minimum in the REF coordinate system using a square root information filter. The coordinate system is then rotated to a second rotated earth fixed coordinate system in which the X-axis passes through the updated launch point position and the Z-axis is positioned at 45 degrees from the missile azimuth.

Abstract: A game machine comprises a plurality of cylindrical reels each provided with various kinds of symbols on its outer surface. The reels are axially aligned and independently rotatable about an axis in first and second directions. Part of symbols of the respective reels are displayed on a window having a predetermined winning line crossing over the symbol of the respective reels to define the symbols on the winning line as a symbol combination The reels start rotating in the first direction in response to an operation of a start lever. The reels independently stop rotating in response to respective operations of stop buttons to bring the symbol of the corresponding reel to a standstill on the winning line to obtain the symbol combination after all reels are stopped rotating. The symbols are shifted in the first and second directions within a predetermined waiting time to change the symbol combination.

Abstract: Porous products of thermoplastic polymers and the like are formed by sintering pellets, especially micropellets and/or pellets made by rapid water quenched pelletizing of the polymers, such as by underwater pelletizing or water ring pelletizing. The pellets are of a uniform size and shape, each having approximately equal dimensions along three mutually perpendicular axes, thereby producing porous products having smooth surfaces, narrow pore size distributions, greater strength and other improved characteristics. The porous products include antiperspirant and deodorant applicator heads, wastewater treatment bubblers and selective filters.

Abstract: In a putter, adjustable weights are provide which can be moved to different positions longitudinally along the putter head. The putter head is provided with a channel and the adjustable weights include a slide which slides in the channel. The channel communicates with a slot and studs project through the slot and screw into the slides to tighten the knobs against the putter head to hold the slidable weights in position. The front face of the putter is provided with vertical grooves at a pitch of about 16 grooves per inch with the grooves and the lands between the grooves being of equal width.

Abstract: In a sprinkler system for warehouse freezers or other cold environments, a sprinkler system piping connected to a water supply through a check valve and extends through a freezing cold environment to sprinkler heads positioned to discharge extinguishant. The sprinkler system piping within the cold environment is filled with a solution of potassium lactate. When a fire occurs causing one or more of the sprinkler heads to be activated, the sprinkler heads will discharge the potassium lactate onto the fire. This action will reduce the pressure in the sprinkler system piping bellow that of the water supply so that water flows from the water supply through the sprinkler system piping through the activated sprinkler heads to be discharged upon the fire.

Abstract: In the motion picture display system, successive frames of a motion picture are compared to determine the dense motion vector fields representing the change of position of image elements in the images represented by the frames. Interpolated frames are generated by scaling the vectors of the dense motion vector fields to a fraction of their original magnitudes and moving image elements in the corresponding frames to positions in the interpolated frames in accordance with the dense motion vector fields. The invention is used to eliminate jerky motion in low frame rate motion pictures and also to provide slow motion in high frame rate motion pictures.

Abstract: In a video conferencing system, digital data representing pixels of a selected scene are stored in a Video accumulator Array Memory cells (VAM), each cell having memory with several register structures and having the capability of processing the digital data to facilitate compression of the digital data. The VAM has the ability to tell the processor information about the temporal nature of the video data without requiring the processor to first read the data and then test the data. In accordance with the present invention, the capability of processing the video data is designed directly in the memory function as they are stored. The memory array, by providing a capacity of temporal processing wherein the digital data in one video frame can be logically interacted with another video frame later in time, can make a significant reduction in the bandwidth required to transmit a video frame.

Abstract: A game machine comprises a housing, a lever pivotally supported on the housing and a control unit. The lever comprises a rod portion having a handle portion integrally formed at the front section and a sensor actuating portion integrally formed at the rear section. The game machine comprises a resiliently urging member for resiliently urging the rod portion toward a neutral position from first and second positions. The game machine further comprises first and second optical sensors positioned to have the lights intercepted by the sensor actuating portion of the lever when the rod portion of the lever is moved to the first and second positions, respectively. The control unit is operable to selectively perform predetermined first and second operations in accordance with signals outputted from the first and second optical sensors, respectively.

Abstract: A mounting structure for a high temperature superconductor device, such as a filter, housed in a closed vacuum chamber and operated at a low temperature. The filter has dielectric substrate having: first and second surfaces; a circuit portion made of a superconducting thin film formed on the first surface of the dielectric substrate; and a ground layer consisting of a superconducting thin film formed on second surface of the dielectric substrate and a metal film deposited on the superconducting thin film. The mounting structure comprises: a device holder for holding the filter thereon; a conductive layer intervening between the ground layer of the filter and the device holder; urging parts for resiliently urging the filter toward the device holder. The conductive layer is made of a metal selected from among the group consisting of gold, silver, copper, aluminum and an alloy made of at least one of gold, silver, copper, and aluminum.

Abstract: A game machine comprises a plurality of cylindrical reels each provided with various kinds of symbols on its outer surface. The reels are axially aligned and independently rotatable about an axis in first and second directions. Part of symbols of the respective reels are displayed on a window having a predetermined winning line crossing over the symbol of the respective reels to define the symbols on the winning line as a symbol combination. The reels start rotating in the first direction in response to an operation of a start lever. The reels independently stop rotating in response to respective operations of stop buttons to bring the symbol of the corresponding reel to a standstill on the winning line to obtain the symbol combination after all reels are stopped rotating. The symbols are shifted in the first and second directions within a predetermined waiting time to change the symbol combination.