Abstract: A system reduces the amount of work exerted by an ATV operator to change transmission gears. The system includes a foot lever assembly with a mechanical portion, such as a mechanical linkage, attached to an automated portion, such as an electrical switch. When the ATV operator applies a predetermined amount of force to the foot lever assembly, a clutch assembly and a gear box are actuated in a single motion, assisted by the automated portion of the foot lever assembly. Thus, the operator is able to exert less work in order to change the gears.

Abstract: The invention relates to an internal antenna element of the patch type for a portable device. The element comprises a body of dielectric material, a conductive plate covering the top face of the dielectric, and a conductive strip covering one of the side faces of the dielectric, the strip being electrically connected along its top edge to one of the edges of said plate and being provided with electrical connection means for connecting said conductive strip to a ground plane that is to be placed against the bottom face of the dielectric body, the other three side faces having no metallization, means passing through the dielectric body for electrically connecting the hot point of an antenna conductor to said plate, and capacitor-forming means for providing capacitance between the plate and the ground plane when the antenna element is mounted on the ground plane, and located close to the side face of the dielectric body that is remote from its side face covered by said conductive strip.

Abstract: The invention relates to a microstrip antenna for transmitting and receiving waves of wave length &lgr;. It comprises a first insulating plate and a first metallization effected on a face of said plate in order to form a ground plane; a second insulating plate and at least one second metallization effected on a face of said second plate and presenting dimensions smaller than those of the first metallization; at least one feedline connected to said first and second metallization; and spacer means fastened with the two plates in order to maintain the two plates in a predetermined relative position so that the two metallizations face each other and the second metallization is opposite the first.

Abstract: The valve comprises a movable closure member and a seat in which the closure member is displaced relative to the seat for varying the gas flow through the valve. According to the invention, the process comprises causing the displacement of the movable closure member by means of a step-by-step motor as a function of the variation of the flow produced by each step according to the geometry of the valve, the type of flow employed and the pressure of the gas on the upstream and/or downstream side of the valve, and then producing a corresponding control signal for displacing in the desired direction the motor through the number of steps corresponding to the calculated flow, the displacement of the motor causing the correlative displacement of the movable closure member.

Abstract: This method relates to the control of the information stream in a cell constituted by several radio channels (C.sub.1) and (C.sub.2), each connecting terminal stations (T.sub.1l to T.sub.1m) and (T.sub.2l to T.sub.2n) to a main station (1) of the cell. In order to assign the ascendent path of a radio channel to a terminal station, the main station transmits in this channel a code signal S.sub.o, whereupon the terminal stations transmit calls to be used in call time windows each with an associated priority level. The main station transmits, in answer time windows, code signals dependent upon the received signals: a code signal S.sub.3 if the received signal is a distinct call, to give a terminal station the authorization to use the ascendent path, or a sequence of code signals S.sub.1 or S.sub.2 if the received signal contains, simultaneously, several calls, or does not contain any call. Dependent upon each code signal S.sub.1 or S.sub.