Abstract: An insulation displacement connector is disclosed which is particularly adapted for use with flat cable having closely spaced conductors. The termination end of each contact in the connector is formed by slitting the contact body and then offsetting the arms formed by the slit in opposite directions. Each conductor of the flat cable is pushed between the offset arms of a corresponding contact. A cap is mounted over the rear of the connector. Cavities in the cap having inclined walls engage the free ends of the resilient arms of the contacts urging them inwardly toward each other to ensure that a high strength connection will be maintained between the contacts and the conductors.

Abstract: An electrical connector in which one connector member contains a grounding ring having a wall of "C"-shaped configuration in longitudinal section. When the mating halves of the connector are interengaged, the shell of the other connector member slides into the grounding ring deflecting the inner peripheral wall thereof outwardly. The ring provides a windowless EMI/RFI grounding shield for the connector.

Abstract: A feed for ticket printers including a magazine having a frame, driven rollers to deliver the bottom one of a stack of tickets to a selection station, the selection station effectively permitting the withdrawal of the bottom ticket while restraining the remaining tickets, and a pair of compression rollers to pull the bottom ticket further through the selection station.

Abstract: A device is disclosed for stripping insulation from the end of an insulated wire. Four identical insulation blades are provided. One pair of blades is mounted on one pivotable arm while a second pair of blades is mounted on a second pivotable arm. The blades on each arm are inverted relative to each other so that the beveled surfaces of the blades which form the cutting edges face in opposite directions, and the beveled surfaces of the blades of the respective pairs which face in the same direction are opposite to each other. This arrangement provides a balanced pattern of the cutting edges and therefore uniform cutting action on the insulation so that when the insulation is removed from the end of the wire, wire skiving is avoided.

Abstract: Differential and static pressure transducers are provided with piezoresistive elements connected in Wheatstone bridges on the 100 surface of a silicon chip over a diaphragm etched into the chip from the back. A thin disk diaphragm is used for differential pressure (DP) and a thicker annular diaphragm around the disk diaphragm is used for static pressure (SP) measurements. Two of the elements opposite each other in each bridge are produced along one crystallographic direction (110), and the other two are produced along an orthogonal crystallographic direction (110). Extra elements are produced for each pair to permit selection of a more closely matched set of four elements. A plurality of DP diaphragms with different diameters and respective bridges are provided along with a multiplexer for selecting a DP bridge in order to provide different ranges of sensitivity for the differential pressure measurements.

Abstract: A combined EMI/RFI shield and environmental sealing element for an electrical connector in which a helical coil spring is partially embedded in an elastomeric ring having an enlarged sealing portion on at least one side of the spring. The exposed surfaces of the coil spring engage facing peripheral surfaces on the shells of the mating connector halves of the electrical connector.

Abstract: To enable a microprocessor to operate within its bandwidth limitations while controlling a serial printer, means are provided for adjusting the microprocessor system clock rate when the printer is in its rate mode. In particular, the output of a counter clocked by the pulses from an encoder representing the velocity of a member is controlled; the output of the counter being selectively applied to the microprocessor in accordance with the velocity of the member being controlled.

Abstract: A co-ordinate matrix addressing system is used to address a liquid crystal display cell containing a positive dielectric anisotropy smectic material. For this purpose one or more direct voltage pulses are applied across selected elemental volumes of the display to convert them from a focal-conic scattering state to a homeotropically aligned state. Prior to this all elements are electrically driven into the turbulent scattering state which relaxes into the focal-conic scattering state upon removal of the driving field. The driving field may also take the form of direct voltage pulses. Unselected elemental volumes may be refreshed to substantially their original level of focal-conic scattering by means of a suitable blanking potential applied to both selected and unselected elemental volumes which nevertheless leaves previously restored elemental volumes in the homeotropically aligned state.

Abstract: A flapper-poppet (new) that differs from a flapper-nozzle (old) in that the flapper-nozzle is a second stage operator that employs an amplifier which operates on de-amplified pressure. Although both the flapper-poppet and the flapper-nozzle are controlled by a conventional torque motor, the flapper-poppet is a first stage operator which operates on high supply pressure.

Abstract: An analyzer for natural gas to determine the existence of and concentration of wanted and unwanted sulfur compounds and odorizing agents.

Abstract: A shell-less connector member having an optional grounding shell bracket mounted on the forward mating portion of the connector member. The connector member may be intermated with a standard metal shell connector member or, when the grounding bracket is removed, with the mating shell-less connector member.

Abstract: In order to determine the vortex shedding frequency, from which the fluid flow rate may be calculated, an optical beam, such as produced by a laser, is passed through a fluid, transversely to a vortex street therein, and modulated in dependence on the alternate high and low velocity regions comprising the vortex street. The modulated signal is detected and "cleaned" of noise by filtering with a first (high) band-pass filter of a center frequency f.sub.c, such that the first filter output comprises an amplitude modulated signal of carrier frequency f.sub.c modulated by the vortex shedding frequency, that is the frequency of oscillation of the power spectra between the respective curves for the high and low velocity regions. The first filter output is demodulated and filtered by a second (low) band-pass filter, whose output is of a frequency comprising the vortex shedding frequency.

Abstract: A releasable locking mechanism is provided for an electrical connector in which a plug connector member embodies a sleeve that carries a locking ring. The ring is adapted to engage with a groove in the mating receptacle connector member. A plurality of lock pins are slidably movable over the ring to retain it in its locked position in the groove. In a preferred embodiment, the lock pins embody heads which extend through slots in the sleeve surrounding the pins. The lock pins are actuated by a coupling ring surrounding the rear portion of the sleeve.

Abstract: A fiber optic contact retention assembly in which a fiber optic contact has an annular groove formed in its body providing front and rear shoulders. An O-ring is positioned in the groove adjacent to the rear shoulder. The contact is radially slidably mounted into a slot in a supporting yoke. One shoulder of the contact engages the front of the yoke and the O-ring is compressed between the rear of the yoke and the rear shoulder of the contact so that the contact is firmly retained in a vertical position relative to the front face of the yoke for facilitating insertion of the contact into a guide member.

Abstract: A curtailed drive scheme for a matrix array liquid crystal display cell in which the field developed across each picture element is maintained for only a fraction of the time interval between consecutive addressings. This reduces the effects of differences in time constants across the display for addressing schemes in which the average time constant is short compared with this time interval between consecutive addressings.

Abstract: A liquid crystal display device has a tandem arrangement of two cells. The rear cell is an active silicon matrix backed dyed nematic cell with 180.degree. twist cell affording the possibility of grey scale representations. The front cell is a dyed nematic cell oriented to act as a variable density polarizer to absorb the weakly absorbed plane of the rear cell. Control of this absorption is used to optimize the contrast perception in the rear cell under different ambient lighting conditions.

Abstract: A self-locking connector in which balls carried by a connector shell are spring biased toward a locking ring which is rotatable with the coupling nut of the connector. The ring is formed with a circular array of detent recesses with which the balls engage when the coupling nut is rotated. The balls and recesses are arranged so that only one ball engages a recess at any instant so that there are a large number of locking positions for the coupling nut.

Abstract: A leakproof electromagnetic relay in which a pourable sealing compound is introduced into the interior of the lower housing of the relay. A recess is formed in at least one sidewall of the housing through which the sealing compound is poured. The compound distributes itself equally on the bottom of the housing and flows into the separating points or gaps of the housing by capillary action. A cover closes the recess after the compound has been poured in. The invention permits the relay to be sealed in its upright position and further processed.

Abstract: In the manufacture of display structures--including fluorescent material displays--by means of a print process, a base material (glass or plastic material), prior to the print process, is coated with an electrically conductive layer. During the print process, a strippable coating or pigmented lacquer having the shape of the structure, is deposited onto a first layer. After the print process, the non-printed electrically conductive layer is etched away and in the case of the non-fluorescent display structure, the strippable coating is peeled off the electrically conductive layer. The invention provides an improvement in the manufacture of display structures over the hitherto conventional photographic reproduction of silk-screen printing methods, and provides display structures having sharp edges to a thickness of approximately 10 .mu.m.