Abstract: A device for controlling reflections off of and information-bearing surface is especially suitable for use in conjunction with shiny, curved surfaces containing machine-readable markings. The device includes a chamber having an interior wall and entrance and exit apertures, the entrance aperture being associated with receiving an image of the surface, and the exit aperture being associated with delivering the image of the surface to image sensing means. As the delivered image of the surface may potentially include reflections of the interior wall and exit aperture, means are provided for equalizing these reflections to minimize problems associated with sensing the image of the surface and decoding any information present.

Abstract: An antenna module capable of finely adjusting the resonant frequency and having an antenna element exclusively used for radio transmission and reception to provide a broad frequency band characteristic. This antenna module is composed of a dielectric substrate molded in a predetermined shape, a grounding conductor in the form of sheet provided on one surface of the dielectric substrate, and antenna element conductor in the form of sheet provided on the opposite surface to the above one surface and having end portion being almost V-shaped end folded, and an adjusting member inserted into the almost V-shaped folded end portion.

Abstract: In a semiconductor device including a field effect transistor comprising a base area, a source area, a drain area and a gate area provided on a channel forming area via a gate insulating area, the base area portion being sandwiched by the source area and the drain area, there is provided a drain electrode contacting the drain area, a source electrode contacting only the source area and a gate electrode contacting the gate area. Because this arrangement does not incorporate a parasitic diode, it can be used in a system utilizing the back electromotive force of the motor, in which a reverse current blocking diode is not included and a highly efficient driver circuit can be arranged. Further, there is provided a motor driver circuit utilizing such a semiconductor device.

Abstract: A radio frequency anechoic chamber utilizes an expanded central volume defined by two flared pyramidal horns with their outer rims joined together, with the flared sections tapering into rectangular cross-sectioned end volumes on opposite ends of the overall chamber. One end houses the transmitting or receiving antenna and the other end houses the items under test. The transitions between the flared and rectangular sections are configured to minimize diffraction effects and reflections which occur when an electromagnetic wave encounters an edge or surface discontinuity. By reducing reflections and diffraction a near-uniform wave arrives at the item under test, and the more uniform the illumination, the more accurate the results of the test.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to chip cards and their functioning. When a chip card goes from a first state (A) to a second state (B), functions that were available in the first state are prohibited. To enable the analysis of the malfunctions of the card during a stage of qualification by the testing of an application under real-life experimental conditions, these functions need to be retrieved when a card suffers a malfunction. The invention proposes the placing, in the card, of two state indicators, the first indicator prohibiting the functions that are unnecessary for the step B and the second indicator checking the possibility of making the card return to the step A to retrieve the prohibited functions. The card reader may give the card a command for a return to the state A. This command is verified by the card. If the indicator is in a state that permits the return and if the command is correct, the first indicator is reset in the state corresponding to A. If not, the command is rejected.

Abstract: An invisible information recording medium includes an underlying layer, an invisible information recording layer provided above the underlying layer, being invisible under visible light, and fluorescing upon being applied with light having a particular wavelength excepting that of the visible light, thus becoming visible, and an optical modulation layer provided between the underlying layer and the recording layer.

Abstract: An improved miniature scanning module for scanning and reading data fields having images or symbols such as bar codes, adapted to be included in a scanning application such as a portable transaction terminal. The scan engine of the module has an oscillator apparatus in which at least one side of a vertical coil cuts lines of magnetic force from an independent fixed magnet assembly and has a rotor and a stator which are molded interconnect devices in which electrical circuits are formed by surface plating or printing during multiple-shot molding of the parts. The rotor is supported by a plurality of metal alloy flexures depending from the stator, which flexures both mechanically support the rotor and transmit electrical power and signals between control circuitry on one or more printed circuit boards on the stator and electrical elements on the rotor. A semiconductor laser diode mounted on the rotor scans in one dimension when the rotor oscillates.

Abstract: The present invention pertains to an electronic data access and retrieval system comprising at least first and second smart cards, a first card being encoded with digital data fields representative of predetermined information and a second card including authorization codes for enabling access to and authorized retrieval of selected information from digital data fields of the first card, and includes computer means including display means for displaying the access data. A method is also disclosed of operating an electronic secured access verification display system for displaying an indication of permissable and non-permissable access to a facility of authorized personnel and for verifying the identity of such personnel by providing IDENTITY SMART CARDS, one for each authorized person, and an ACCESS SMART CARD to each authorized operator of the system.

Abstract: A horizontally polarized antenna array having extended E-plane beam width, and a method for accomplishing beam width extension. In one embodiment of the invention, an antenna array is provided that comprises a driven dipole element mounted to a conductive means forming a ground plane, the driven dipole element having opposing arms, and a pair of collinear parasitic dipole elements disposed on opposite sides of the driven dipole element, the parasitic dipole elements having opposing arms inclined toward the ground plane such that the opposing arms of each parasitic dipole element are perpendicular to one another.

Abstract: A vehicular radio reception antenna is concealed within a body trim piece such as a spoiler or a luggage rack. A supporting body panel is utilized as a ground plane and a conductive loop is concealed within the trim piece. A transmission line connects two opposite sides of the resulting slot. Capacitors are used to connect the conducting loop to the sheet metal ground plane in order to form a dual slot/monopole antenna for receiving both FM and AM signals.

Abstract: A bar code scanner includes a detection unit for detecting light reflected from a bar code and generating a detection signal, a conversion unit for generating detected bar code data based on the detection signal, an input interface unit receiving external bar code data generated externally, a data control unit for generating output bar code data by using the detected bar code data and/or the external bar code data from the input interface unit, and an output interface unit for sending out the output bar code data.

Abstract: Security equipment protects the relaying of account numbers and personal identification numbers (PIN) by telephonic or other communication link. The equipment includes a host computer an a remote portable transaction device that interact. A credit granting institution generates an account number and a series of unique personal identification numbers for each account number. This information is stored in the host computer's memory and is assigned as a reference series to an individual customer account number. An identical series of numbers in the same sequence is stored in the memory of the remote device. In operation, the customer account on the host computer is activated and the host computer's memory is indexed sequentially to the first number in the reference series. During the use of the remote device, a unique personal identification number is added to the customer account number and transmitted to the host computer.

Abstract: An optical element causes emission of a visible spotter beam [emitted by]from a hand-held scanning bar code reader. The visible beam provides visible indications of the area of a surface which is being scanned by an invisible scanning beam. The optical element transforms the visible spotter beam, at its extreme of travel, into two pairs of cursor beams which are directed along predetermined trajectories relative to the trajectory followed by the scanning beam. The predetermined trajectories can be above and below, or to the left and right of the center of travel of the invisible scanning beam. In one embodiment, a method of identifying the proper focusing distance of the scanning reader is presented. The method identifies the focusing distance by directing the pairs of cursor beams formed from the visible beam at its two angular extremes to form a predetermined pattern indicating the proper focusing distance.

Abstract: Magnetic cards are provided with unique card signatures which include a number of bits, some of which have intermediate magnetic levels. As a result a card reader allocates randomly either a one or a zero to the intermediate level bits. The random allocation provides a test for the genuineness of the card. The intermediate level bits are formed as a result of inherent inconsistencies in the characteristic of a normal magnetic stripe along its length. It is not possible therefore to readily, if at all, reproduce patterns of intermediate level bits in a duplicate because the stripe on the duplicate will have differently arranged inconsistencies along its length.

Abstract: A card on which at least the number of game play media paid out to a player from a game machine is recorded and which is issued to the player. The card comprises a substrate and a recording portion, disposed on the substrate, for recording data. The recording portion is a layer made of a substance whose physical properties reversibly change by heating for visibly recording data by local heating according to a heating pattern corresponding to an image of data to be recorded.

Abstract: An antenna adapted for surface mounting has a dielectric substrate on which are attached at least one primary grounding electrode and a connector electrode which together serve as a capacitor, at least one secondary grounding electrode formed adjacent to but insulated from the connector electrode, and a radiative member disposed thereover for emitting electromagnetic radiation. The resonant frequency of this antenna can be adjusted by trimming either its connector electrode or one of the secondary grounding electrode.

Abstract: A scanning folded lens antenna system for scanning reception and/or transmission of electromagnetic radiation and method of scanning receiving and/or transmitting electromagnetic energy. The folded lens has a first cylindrical parallel plate waveguide, a second cylindrical parallel plate waveguide, a waveguide coupler operatively associated with the first and second waveguides to communicate a signal therebetween so as to transform a cylindrical signal from the first waveguide to a substantially planar phase signal in the second waveguide, and a plurality of coupling device operatively associated with first waveguide for coupling a signal between the first waveguide and the coupling device.

Abstract: Antenna structure for use with a timepiece (100) adapted to be worn on the wrist and including a microreceiver (117,118), said antenna structure comprising an antenna (81) comprising at least one coil (85,86,87) and being capable of capturing an electromagnetic field bearing radio diffused messages for receipt and transformation by said microreceiver (117,118) into data perceptible to a user of said timepiece, conductive leads (82,83) for connecting said antenna (81) to said microreceiver (117,118), and a non-conductive support structure (84) comprising a first portion (90) onto which antenna (81) is mounted. The support structure (84) further comprises a second portion unitary (91) with and projecting from said first portion (90) and onto which said conductive leads (82,83) are mounted.

Abstract: A wide bandwidth, shorted, dual C-patch antenna includes a truncated ground plane, a layer of dielectric material having a first surface overlying the ground plane and an opposing second surface, and an electrically conductive layer overlying the second opposing surface of the dielectric layer. The electrically conductive layer is differentiated into a plurality of antenna elements including a driven antenna element and at least one non-driven, parasitic antenna element. Each of the antenna elements is in the shape of a parallelogram and has one of a rectangular and a non-rectangular (e.g., parabolic, triangular, pentagonal) aperture having a length that extends along a first edge of the electrically conductive layer and a width that extends towards an oppositely disposed second edge. The length has a value that is equal to approximately 20% to approximately 35% of a length of the first edge.

Abstract: A system and method for reading a two-dimensional barcode symbology. The two-dimensional barcode symbology has lines of data, each of the lines having several bars and spaces, each of the bars and spaces having a width. The method comprises scanning one of the lines using a CCD optical scanning head to obtain a scanned line. The bars and spaces in the scanned line are then converted into element time intervals, each of the element time intervals corresponding to, and representing the width of, one of the bars and spaces, thereby obtaining a converted line. For the converted line, a predefined prefix message, followed by the element time intervals, followed by a predefined suffix message are then output from the CCD optical scanning head to a processor.