Abstract: The skimmer has a conveyor belt which travels in ascending and descending paths. The lower portion of the belt is adapted to be immersed in the water in a swimming pool for skimming debris floating on the surface of the water. The debris is carried upward by the belt and separates from the belt at its upper end. Any debris which does not separate from the belt is removed by a brush which contacts the belt as it travels in the descending path. The belt has perforations through which water passes. One or more solar panels activate, in hole or in part, the operation of the conveyor belt. The solar panels can be aimed at the sum whether it is high or low in the sky and once aimed, move at a rate which equals the observed rate of movement of the sun as it crosses the sky from morning to evening such that the solar panels continuously face the sun during daylight.

Abstract: The skimmer has a conveyor belt which travels in ascending and descending paths. The lower portion of the belt is adapted to be immersed in the water in a swimming pool for skimming debris floating on the surface of the water. The debris is carried upward by the belt and separates from the belt at its upper end. Any debris which does not separate from the belt is removed by a brush which contacts the belt as it travels in the descending path. The belt has perforations through which water passes. One or more solar panels activate, in hole or in part, the operation of the conveyor belt. The solar panels can be aimed at the sum whether it is high or low in the sky and once aimed, move at a rate which equals the observed rate of movement of the sun as it crosses the sky from morning to evening such that the solar panels continuously face the sun during daylight.

Abstract: A device for straightening the body and the structures of a damaged vehicle, includes a master cylinder filled with hydraulic fluid, wherein moves a master piston under the action of a rotary member actuated by a motor. A slave cylinder is connected to the master cylinder through a flexible conduit extending from said master cylinder, and is designed to be connected by some means to the body or to the structure to be straightened. The slave cylinder receives a slave piston, driven in translation inside the slave cylinder under the action of the hydraulic fluid, so as to be urged to strike the neighbourhood of the end of said slave cylinder connected to the body or to the structure, by being subjected to a return force tending to bring it back to its initial position.

Abstract: The invention concerns a device for straightening the body and the structures of a damaged vehicle, comprising: a master cylinder (CE) filled with hydraulic fluid, wherein moves a master piston (PE) under the action of a rotary member actuated by a motor; a slave cylinder (CR), connected to the master cylinder through a flexible conduit (F) extending from said master cylinder, and designed to be connected by some means to the body or to the structure to be straightened, said slave cylinder receiving a slave piston (PR), driven in translation inside the slave cylinder under the action of the hydraulic fluid, so as to be urged to strike the neighbourhood of the end (FA) of said slave cylinder connected to the body or to the structure, by being subjected to a return force tending to bring it back to its initial position.

Abstract: In order to improve the contrast of a synthetic image generator, the usually implemented operations of luminance compression are eliminated. Instead, a computation of true luminosity is made and the function of adaptation of the eye is included by computing the true output light energy. Then, the video components of the signal are sent to a display system and are standardized as a function of the light energy of the image displayed and the possible range of the image display. The method includes producing images with a luminance range substantially equal to the true luminance range of an eye and sending this signal to the display system. The signal is varied for different images at a time equal to the time an eye adjusts to different images. The apparatus includes a main channel being corrected by a computing circuit, having a peak luminance extraction circuit and a light energy computing circuit for generating a luminance correction signal.

Abstract: A simulator comprises a dome on which are formed synthesized large-field images, the image-forming surface of the dome being "active", i.e., it is not used as a projection screen, but the images are formed directly by "cells". As a result of this arrangement, successive portions of the spherical surface, which are dark in the absence of excitation, make it possible to increase the contrast of the images obtained. According to one embodiment, these cells comprise encapsulated liquid crystals.

Abstract: In order to determine the correct relative positions of marker tips on an adjustable jig used for chassis and body repairs of a damaged automotive vehicle, a three-dimensional representation of the spatial distribution of characteristic points of the vehicular structure is created by means of two projectors emitting pairs of intersecting light rays with the aid of mostly opaque slides bearing conjugate patterns of transparent dots. In a presetting operation the projectors are so oriented that certain--preferably distinctly colored--light rays traversing their slides intersect at fixed spots on a stationary wall against which the jig is subsequently placed for an adjustment of its markers until their tips coincide with the intersections of respective pairs of preferably distinctively colored orientation rays. The slides may also bear projectable legends indicating the type of vehicle to which they pertain.

Abstract: The invention relates to simulators, for example, simulators of a ship's bridge and the visual display of the scene as viewed from that bridge. Elementary images are juxtaposed, forming an image of a large angle where, without discontinuity, a moving object appears on several television monitors positioned adjacent one another. The images are read simultaneously from "synthetic images" which are stored in a memory. The moving portion of the image, e.g. a ship, is inlayed in a background or environment image. The image of the object is furnished from a camera which is focused on a model of the object, in the example a ship or ships. There is a synchronization between the delayed line signal of the television camera in relation to the synchronizations of the signals throughout the system.

Abstract: A vehicle-repair apparatus has a floor-mounted generally rectangular track having two long and two short sides that are spaced apart sufficiently to accept a vehicle within the sides. A long portal having a pair of upright leg members and a cross member spans the track between the short sides and a similar short portal spans it between the long sides. These portals can be moved perpendicularly to each other along the respective sides. It is possible to lock each of the legs at the respective side to the track, and to lock the cross members of the portals together. A support can be secured to any of the legs or cross members and a jack in turn can be secured to it to pull or push out a dent in a vehicle standing within the track.