Abstract: The disclosure is of apparatus including two pairs of metal gripping blocks held together by a spring and mounted adjacent to wedge blocks carrying wedges for opening each pair. An operating plate is provided which drives the apparatus to cause the wedge blocks to open the gripping blocks to permit a length of capillary tubing filled with mercury to be inserted between the pairs of gripping blocks. The apparatus is then driven to cause the tubing to pass through a flame positioned to melt the tubing at a desired location and to form two separate seal portions at this location which are gripped by the two gripping blocks; and, on the next cycle, when the gripping blocks are opened, the portion of the tubing which is the desired capsule is released from its pair of gripping blocks and fed to a suitable receiver.

Abstract: The fixture comprises an insulating housing of synthetic resinous material which carries two sets of switches which number, in total, the number of terminals on an integrated circuit (IC) to be tested. Each switch has a manually operable arm or lever which can be placed in three separate positions, an upper position, a center position, and a lower position; and the switch has three terminals, an upper terminal, a center terminal, and a lower terminal, one for each position of the operable arm. All of the upper switch terminals are connected together to a first common plug, and all of the lower switch terminals are connected together to a second common plug, the two plugs being adapted to be inserted into a test device such as a curve tracer. Each center terminal is connected separately to a terminal on a zero-insertion force socket, into which the pins of the integrated circuit under test can be inserted.

Abstract: The disclosure is of facsimile apparatus having support means for holding a telephone handset during operation of the machine in receiving or transmitting a message. This means comprises a seat of rubber on which the handset rests, and, in addition, a ring of smooth material on which the handset slides as it is brought into engagement with the support means and as it is slipped into its operating position with respect to the support means. The apparatus also includes a novel, spring support arrangement for the handset support.

Abstract: A facsimile machine includes a cylinder for supporting a paper which is to receive a message or which carries a message to be transmitted by telephone lines to a remote location. The machine includes a read-write assembly which is mounted for movement back and forth across the paper-carrying cylinder. The read-write assembly includes a light assembly for directing light onto a printed document, a stylus for printing electrostatic charge on a blank sheet of paper, and a relatively simple mechanical apparatus for switching the machine from the read status to the write status.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a facsimile machine having a carrier for a sheet of paper, the carrier comprising a cylinder having a longitudinal band secured thereto by springs so that the band is normally pulled downwardly onto the surface of the cylinder. A sheet of paper is rolled about the cylinder, with one end of the sheet of paper held securely between the band and the cylinder.The cylinder is mounted on a machine frame which includes a cover plate which is pivotally mounted over the paper-holding cylinder. The cover is provided with a finger which serves no purpose when the cover is closed, but, when the cover is opened, the finger engages a bracket which itself engages the longitudinal band to lift it from the surface of the cylinder to permit a sheet of paper to be inserted or removed.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a display panel which includes a gas-filled envelope which contains cathodes and anodes spaced apart from each other and formed into rows and columns of dotlike cells by an insulating cell sheet. The insulating sheet is of a glassy material and is coated with an opaque, slightly reflective, resistive material such as silicon. The coating provides good display contrast by hiding the cathode glow of the priming cathodes in the panel.

Abstract: A display panel includes one or more character display positions, each of which comprises a cathode, an anode, and an array of anodic display elements. The display elements comprise conductive phosphor segments which can be energized in different combinations to emit light and display a character. In operation of the panel, the cathode and anode are connected in an operating circuit, and then selected phosphor segments are energized by information signals to transfer electrons thereto and to display a character.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a leg exerciser comprising a generally rectangular base member and a generally rectangular upper foot-receiving member hinged together along aligned end portions with a spring disposed between them remote from the aligned portions. Leg exercise can be obtained by pumping the upper member down and up regularly against the force of the spring.

Abstract: The apparatus includes a cup having a metal base and seated on an insulating support, beneath which is positioned an electrical coil, by means of which heating currents are induced in the metal base of the cup, and this heat is transferred to the fluid which is in the cup, in contact with the metal base. A control circuit is provided including means for generating the heating currents and for selecting the desired temperature. The circuit includes a thermal sensor in heat transfer relation with the cup and coupled to the circuit which controls the operation of the oscillator and the heating of the fluid in the cup to the desired temperature.

Abstract: A display panel includes a generally flat gas-filled envelope which comprises a base plate and a face plate hermetically sealed together. The base plate carries a plurality of groups of cathode segments, and the face plate carries a transparent conductive anode for each group of cathodes. The anodes are formed by a screening process, and they comprise a matrix of cadmium and indium oxides and various other metal oxides.

Abstract: A display device comprising a panel structure including a plurality of gas-filled cells and including, within the body of the panel, gas communication channels extending between selected cells to provide a selective flow of excited gaseous particles from certain cells to others to prime the receiving cells and thereby control the transfer of glow between the cells. The panel includes a series of parallel cathode strips and means for forming glow cells along each of the strips. A reset cell is provided at each end of each cathode strip, and means are provided for energizing each pair of reset cells, in turn, and, as each pair is energized, the cells along its cathode are energized selectively to provide a display of characters in the entire panel.

Abstract: A method and circuit for operating a gaseous discharge device which, in one form, comprises a plurality of discrete gas cells, each having its own cathode and anode electrodes arrayed in a matrix such that the cells can be activated and sustained in different groupings to represent different characters. The gas cells may be small-area light sources arrayed in rows and columns, with each row of cells having a common cathode electrode, and each column of cells having a common anode electrode. Each cell can be turned on, and caused to strike a glow discharge, by having the required firing potential applied between its anode and cathode electrodes. Cells which have been thus turned on can be kept on, so as to impart a storage or memory characteristic to the matrix, by means of sustaining pulses applied directly to their anodes and cathodes, with no intervening current-limiting impedances being required.

Abstract: A display panel includes a base plate and face plate having internal electrodes connected to contact pads disposed along an edge of the panel. The base plate and face plate are spaced apart along said edge of the panel so that flexible terminals or pins can be inserted therebetween to make contact with the contact pads and to connect the internal panel electrodes to external circuitry. The panel includes means for mechanically supporting all of the leads and for cementing the leads to the support member, thus providing a rigid lead assembly which can be handled with ease by a user.

Abstract: The panel comprises a base plate which carries a plurality of column cathode strips which are oriented parallel to each other, with insulating means dividing the surface of each such strip into a column of a plurality of separate operating areas including display cathode areas and priming cathode areas, the latter providing excited particles for use by the display areas. The display cathodes and priming cathodes are arrayed in rows and columns, and, in each column, there are gas communication paths between priming cathode areas and display cathode areas. In addition, there are gas communication paths along each row of priming cathodes. A separate display anode is provided in operative relation with each row of display cathodes, and a separate priming anode is provided in operative relation with each row of scan cathodes, and each crossing of an anode and cathode area forms a display cell or a priming cell.

Abstract: The cart comprises a housing containing a plurality of supports for slidable shelves and a plurality of horizontal louvers hinged to completely cover the spaces between adjacent shelves. Dust-proof seals are provided between adjacent louvers. A pair of vertical L-shaped brackets are hinged to the housing adjacent to the louvers, and the arrangement is such that the L-shaped brackets can be pivoted away from the louvers, and the louvers, when raised, can engage slots in at least one of the brackets which thus hold the louvers in the open position.

Abstract: The air ionizer comprises a sealed insulating housing containing a high voltage power supply and a half-wave modifier. Conductive brushes or filamentary elements are provided on the outside surface of the housing and are coupled to the power supply, either resistively or capacitively, so that they generate ions in the surrounding air. Capacitive coupling is to a conductive layer on the inner surface of the housing.

Abstract: The disclosure is of a needle threader including a magnetic pin which is used to find the eye of the needle and is inserted therein. The threader also includes a hook-like member which is of a magnetic material and which is pulled through the eye of the needle by the magnetic pin. Once the threader is pulled through the eye of the needle, a thread is inserted therein, and when the threader is pulled out of the eye, the thread is caught in the eye, and the needle is threaded.

Abstract: The display panel includes a gas-filled envelope made up of a base plate and a face plate hermetically sealed together. A cell sheet is disposed between the base plate and face plate, an array of cathode strips is disposed between the base plate and cell sheet, and an array of anodes is disposed between the face plate and cell sheet, with the anodes being disposed at an angle to the cathodes so that each crossing of an anode and cathode and the volume of gas between them define a display cell. The cell sheet includes slots which define rows of separate operating areas on each cathode. In addition, each cathode strip defines a column of operating cathode areas. The panel carries a mercury capsule, whether in the tubulation or in a convenient portion of the cell sheet, and the cell sheet is provided with channels or slots, in communication with the mercury capsule, to facilitate the dispersion of mercury throughout the panel.

Abstract: The panel comprises a gas-filled envelope which contains a plurality of column cathode strips which are oriented parallel to each other, with insulating means dividing the surface of each such strip into a column of a plurality of separate operating areas including display cathode areas and priming or scanning cathode areas, the latter providing excited particles for use by the display areas. The column cathode strips, thus treated, form rows and columns of display cathodes and priming cathodes, and, in each column, there are gas communication paths between priming cathodes or areas and display cathodes or areas. In addition, there are gas communication paths along each row of priming cathodes so that each priming cathode, and each column of priming cathodes, can diffuse excited particles to adjacent priming cathodes.