Patents Represented by Attorney Thomas A. Briody
  • Patent number: 4878024
    Abstract: In a gradient coil system for a magnetic resonance apparatus arc conductors of notably X coils and Y coils are stacked axially or radially so as to form rigid stacks. The arc conductors are interconnected by means of electrical conductors and the stacks are also interconnected, so that a rigid, self-supporting coil system is obtained. Because the coil system is composed of rigid elements, is comparatively open and does not require a coil former, the production of noise in a magnetic resonance apparatus comprising such a coil system is substantially reduced and field disturbances due to coil deformations are also reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 31, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Johannes A. Overweg, Cornelis L. G. Ham
  • Patent number: 4878023
    Abstract: In a magnetic resonance apparatus a gradient coil system in which "return" arc conductors, which contribute substantially less to the gradient field formation because they are situated further outwards radially and/or axially from the center of the system, are positioned to compensate for stray fields of "effective" are conductors, which are more centrally situated and which contribute more substantially to the gradient field formation. Due to both radial and axial displacement of the return arc conductors relative to the effective arc conductors, the measuring space of the apparatus can be conically shaped, so that a higher patient accessibility is achieved or a smaller diameter can be imparted to a central portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 31, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Johannes A. Overweg, Cornelis L. G. Ham
  • Patent number: 4878181
    Abstract: A circuit which expands monochrome character image patterns to color form for use in a raster scanned computer display system. Monochrome patterns are expanded from one bit per pixel to n bits per pixel. Foreground and background colors are programmable in a pattern generator which uses data from the expanded source patterns to select appropriate colors and characters for a destination pattern to be displayed. The expanded multicolor image is generated by hardware.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1987
    Date of Patent: October 31, 1989
    Assignee: Signetics Corporation
    Inventors: Craig A. MacKenna, Jan-Kwei J. Li
  • Patent number: 4876507
    Abstract: A method is proposed for the automatic correction of phase errors in NMR spectra. The phase errors are interalia due to deficiencies of the NMR hardware, the time-shifted sampling of a magnetic resonance signal after the appearance thereof. The phase correction is performed by first determining peak locations in a modulus spectrum determined from the complex spectrum and by determining the phases in the peak locations, after which the phase in the peak locations are fitted to a predetermined polynomial by means of a least-squares optimization procedure. The coefficients of the polynomial are thus defined. Subsequently, the NMR spectrum is point-wise corrected by means of the phase polynomial determined. The proposed method can be simply implemented in a NMR device; no severe requirements are imposed as regards the signal-to-noise ratio and the resolution of the spectrum. In practical situations an NMR spectrum usually comprises many spectral lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 24, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Ltd.
    Inventor: Johannes J. Van Vaals
  • Patent number: 4875441
    Abstract: A bistable electronically controlled fluid powered valve actuator for use in an internal combustion engine of the type having engine intake and exhaust valves has a piston reciprocative in a cylinder housing for driving the engine valves to open and close. Control valves are mounted separately from the piston for reciprocative movement in the housing and are used to selectively direct air pressure to drive the piston. The control valves are magnetically latched in closed positions with the magnet force used to also close ends of the valves. Abutments are affixed to ends of the piston shaft to aid the control valves in their closing movements, especially if the valves have a transitory retardation; another aid to valve closing movement is the capture of air in a chamber that is sealed on opening valve movement so that the compression of air in the chamber acts as an air spring to aid in the valve closing movements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 24, 1989
    Assignee: Magnavox Government and Industrial Electronics Company
    Inventors: William E. Richeson, Frederick L. Erickson
  • Patent number: 4873948
    Abstract: A bistable electronically controlled pneumatically powered transducer for use, for example, as a valve mechanism actuator in an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The transducer has an armature including a piston which is coupled to an engine valve, for example. The piston is powered by a pneumatic source and includes asymmetric pneumatic damping. Air damping may be differentially controlled to provide dissimilar damping at the two extremes of piston motion. The armature is held in each of its extreme positions by pneumatic pressure under the control of control valves which are in turn held in their closed positions by pressurized air latching arrangements and are released therefrom to supply air to the piston to be pneumatically driven to the other extreme position by an electromagnetic solenoid or by an electromagnetic repulsion arrangement. The control valves may be spring loaded toward their open positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 17, 1989
    Assignee: Magnavox Government and Industrial Electronics Company
    Inventors: Richeson, William E., Frederick L. Erickson
  • Patent number: 4875207
    Abstract: A description is given of a data processing network that is constructed as a product network of two or more factor networks. At least one of the factor networks is a chordal ring of at least five stations, or a generalized chordal ring. A generalized chordal ring is formed by dividing each of the stations in a chordal ring (124, 130, 136) into a number of sub-stations. The sub-stations within a station constitute a homogeneous network. The external connections of a station are divided over the relevant sub-stations. In this way an optimum value for the degree (G) and diameter (D) of the network can be chosen on the basis of a selection strategy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1987
    Date of Patent: October 17, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Robert A. H. Van Twist, Franciscus P. M. Hopmans, Eddy A. M. Odijk
  • Patent number: 4873487
    Abstract: In NMR images, which are constructed from resonance signals, for example with Fourier zeugmatography, due to coherent interferences, for example, as a result of "leak-through" of NMR signals from one sequence to a next sequence of resonance signals, artefacts can occur in the images, which, depending upon the kind of interference, become manifest in the image as interference lines, ghost images or conspicuous dots. A method is disclosed of reducing the influence of these interferences by smearing the artefacts out over the image as noise. For this purpose, the phase of the reference signals is randomly modulated between measuring cycles of the resonance signals. The reference signal is used to form excitation pulses for producing resonance signals in a body and further in synchronous detection of the resonance signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 1987
    Date of Patent: October 10, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corp.
    Inventor: Peter Van Der Meulen
  • Patent number: 4873486
    Abstract: A magnetic resonance spectrometer in which, at least in the receiving branch, the received spin resonance signal is transposed by successive mixing processes into a transposed signal having a higher frequency range than the baseband. The transposed signal is converted into a digital signal by an analog-to-digital converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 10, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corp.
    Inventors: Michael H. Kuhn, Thomas Helzel, Roland Proksa, Noel J. M. Van Den Berg
  • Patent number: 4872425
    Abstract: A bistable electronically controlled fluid powered valve actuator for use in an internal combustion engine of the type having engine intake and exhaust valves has a piston reciprocative in a cylinder housing for driving the engine valves to open and close. Control valves are mounted separately from the piston for reciprocative movement in the housing and are used to direct pneumatic pressure to drive the piston. The control valves are magnetically latched in closed positions with magnet force and released after a temporary electromagnetic weakening of the magnetic field. Upon release, the valves are opened pneumatically and closed pneumatically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 10, 1989
    Assignee: Magnavox Government and Industrial Electronics Company
    Inventors: William E. Richeson, Frederick L. Erickson
  • Patent number: 4872108
    Abstract: A priority processor (1) and a non-priority processor (20) cooperatively access a common memory (30) by means of an address multiplexer (40) which memory and multiplexer are controlled by a control unit (60). The priority processor issues data strobe (DSSN), clock (CLK) and write control (WSN) signals to the control unit to which the non-polarity processor also issues various memory access request signals. By forming a preparation signal (DSSN=0), the priority processor, through the control unit, claims the memory for a memory access cycle if a prior memory access request by the non-priority processor occurred less than about a clock cycle earlier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 3, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Andre Bussonniere, Yves Courtois
  • Patent number: 4872193
    Abstract: A lithotripsy workstation which can also be used for X-ray examination includes an X-ray device (5, 6) which is pivotable about a horizontal axis (7), and a shock wave generator (18) which is pivotable about an inclined axis (17) which intersects the horizontal axis. The focal point of the shock wave generator (18) coincides with this point of intersection, even when the shock wave generator is pivoted to the left or to the right to a position which is suitable for crushing a calculus in the left-hand kidney or the right-hand kidney.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 3, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Manfred Elff, Wilfried G. Pfeiffer, Horst-Hartwig Schwieker, Dieter H. C. Christiansen
  • Patent number: 4870305
    Abstract: A circuit for performing the EXCLUSIVE-OR function of a signal A and a signal B comprises field effect transistors of the MESFET type normally cut off in the absence of a gate-source signal. The circuit also comprises loads and is integrated on a semiconductor substrate of the group III-V. A signal A which is complementary to the signal A is also applied to this circuit. The circuit is formed by a field effect transistor T'.sub.1 whose gate is controlled by the signal B, whose drain receives the signal A via a load R'.sub.1, and whose source receives the signal A which is complementary to the signal A. The signal representing the EXCLUSIVE-OR function (A.sym.B) is available at the junction of the drain of the transistor T'.sub.1 and the load R'.sub.1 and constitutes the output S.sub.1 of the gate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 26, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventor: Marc Rocchi
  • Patent number: 4870361
    Abstract: An MR angiography method in which an angiogram is formed from the difference between amplitude and/or phase information contained in first and second complex images produced by different gradient waveforms in respective first and second types of excitation sequences. The gradient waveforms are chosen so that in the angiogram obtained from the first and second complex images, ideally, signals orginating from excited stationary spin nuclei are not present while the signals orginating from moving spin nuclei, due to flow in blood vessels, are present. However, stationary spin nuclei can be somewhat differently excited in the first and second sequence due to the different gradient waveforms used which cause different eddy currents to flow in metal parts of the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 26, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Josephus J. E. In Den Kleef, Johannes P. Groen, Rudolf G. De Graaf
  • Patent number: 4869172
    Abstract: The invention relates to a safe and arm mechanism for an exploding projectile to be fired from a rifled gun. The projectile first experiences axial and angular acceleration which moves a setback ball to initially arm the mechanism. A third projectile parameter, angular velocity, functions to lock the ball in the armed position. During projectile flight, a spin actuated escapement mechanism moves toward a fully armed position, but may be precluded from reaching that fully armed position by a command arm arrangement. The projectile is then fully armed when a command arm signal releases the arrangement and the escapement mechanism is allowed to complete its motion to the fully armed position. When the projectile strikes a target, it experiences axial deceleration which moves a contact ball partway to a detonating position. After the projectile passes through the target surface and into a void, e.g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 26, 1989
    Assignee: Magnavox Government and Industrial Electronics Company
    Inventor: George Webb
  • Patent number: 4868764
    Abstract: Pixel information representing an image for display is encoded using data compression into display data which can be stored on a compact disc. The data compression consists in obtaining the pixel information as a first matrix of high resolution pixel values, subtracting from this first matrix a second matrix composed of lower resolution pixel values, produced by low pass filtering the first matrix, to produce a third matrix of difference values, decimation filtering the second matrix to produce a fourth matrix of less density lower resolution pixel values and encoding the third and fourth matrices. The complementary decoding to obtain the original data consists in restituting the second matrix by interpolation filtering the coded fourth matrix, and combining the restituted second matrix with decoded third matrix.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1987
    Date of Patent: September 19, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventor: Norman D. Richards
  • Patent number: 4868845
    Abstract: The invention relates to an X-ray apparatus with a motor-driven movable part. The drive takes place via a shaft, which is mounted in a bearing, the bearing forces of which are measured by a measuring device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1987
    Date of Patent: September 19, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventor: Norbert Koropp
  • Patent number: 4868683
    Abstract: In a method of aligning objects and in particular, of aligning optically readable disc-shaped information carrier. The objects are preferably optically scanned line-by-line in a direction transverse to their direction of movement. A reference picture line with an optically characteristic picture content is detected to allow alignment relative to known positions. To detect the reference picture line, the picture contents of all the picture lines are compared with each other and the corresponding correlation coefficients are determined. The reference picture line is that picture line whose picture content correlates least with the picture content of any other picture line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 1987
    Date of Patent: September 19, 1989
    Assignee: Polygram International Holding B.V.
    Inventor: Dieter Schulz
  • Patent number: 4868503
    Abstract: The invention relates to a volume selective magnetic resonance spectroscopy method. Volume selection is performed after excitation by means of three layer-selective 180.degree. rf pulses which excite the nuclear magnetization in three mutually perpendicular layers. The distance between the three selective 180.degree. rf pulses can be chosen to be as small as possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 19, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Graeme C. McKinnon, Peter Bosiger
  • Patent number: 4868812
    Abstract: Large-scale time-division switching arrangements often consist of a central switching network and a series of so-called concentrators. For establishing an H1 switching a series of wideband concentrators are connected to a central wideband switching network if the wideband concentrators are of a modular structure and communicate through an internal bus system and an interface circuit with the central wideband switching network connected thereto, a distribution switching in the direction of the subscriber station and a testing of the concentrators while in operation can be effected in a simple way.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 19, 1989
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventors: Johann E. W. Kruger, Ulrich R. P. Killat, Wolfgang E. Jasmer