Abstract: A passenger seat for a multi-passenger motor vehicle having a body with a seat-mounting includes a seat frame mountable to the seat-mounting surface, and a rear seat frame engaged with the seat frame. A front frame is engaged to the seat frame and is located forward of the rear seat frame. The front frame is configured for translational movement with respect to the seat frame. A passenger restraint member is engaged to the front frame.

Abstract: A vehicle passenger seat active occupant restraint provides for absorbing energy from a passenger during sudden deceleration of a vehicle. The torso belt portion of a three-point restraint system is anchored using a spring and a displacement limiting linkage at the opposite end from its point of connection to the lap portion of the belt. During deceleration energy is transferred from the restrained occupant to the spring up to the displacement limit.

Abstract: The invention provides a seat for a bus that has a movable front frame or seat back that a seat occupant rests his or her back against normally. The front frame is the mounting point for the upper portion of a three-point seat belt. The seat frame contains a rear passenger support wall or rear frame to protect a passenger of rearward seat from moving out his safety zone in a forward direction in the event of a rapid deceleration. The rear frame is part of the seat frame and only moves upon initial contact by a rearward-unbelted passenger impact. A rotation guide slot defines the amount of rear frame movement. The front frame is limited in the amount of its forward pivoting movement by a tether, spring or fluid dampener that is engaged to an immovable portion of the frame and thereby limits forward travel of the front frame.

Abstract: A passenger seat for a multi-passenger motor vehicle having a body with a seat-mounting includes a seat frame mountable to the seat-mounting surface, and a rear seat frame engaged with the seat frame. A front frame is engaged to the seat frame and is located forward of the rear seat frame. The front frame is configured for translational movement with respect to the seat frame. A passenger restraint member is engaged to the front frame.

Abstract: A vehicle passenger seat with an upholstery cover having a fabric seam designed to absorb energy from a seat occupant upon impact. Means for progressively absorbing energy from the seat belt occupant are disclosed. Use of the fabric seam to absorb vehicle passenger seat occupant energy increases the survivability of an impact for an occupant of a seat with a separate inner and outer seat frame, and relates to compliance with energy absorption requirements for seat-backs of 49 C.F.R. Section 571.222 (FMVSS 222) and seat belt anchorage loading strength requirements of 49 C.F.R. Section 571.209 and 571.210 (FMVSS 209 and FMVSS 210).

Abstract: The invention involves a two-piece seat for a passenger-carrying vehicle with the seat being capable of complying with the federal requirements with reduced complexity. A steel plate is rigidly attached to the rotating seat back. The steel plate will prevent the seat back from rotating during normal use. If the bus were in a collision, a belted occupant would apply load to the rotating seat back through the seat belts. The steel plate would deform, allowing the rotating seat back to come forward. The fixed portion of the seat back remains in position to act as a passive restraint for any passengers seated behind this particular seat. Utilizing deformable steel plates to retain and control the operation of a rotating seat back equipped with 3-point restraints is a unique aspect to this invention. The plates will retain the rotating seat back in normal use to prevent vandalism to the seat belts, and can be easily removed so the seat back can be rotated forward for servicing the seat belts and upholstery covers.

Abstract: The invention involves a seat system with a movable and immovable portions that may be maintained and still operate during transients as required under the federal regulations. There is a quick release serviceability latch for a school bus passenger seat with integrated restraints. The inner and outer seat backs must be quickly detached from one another to facilitate repair or replacement of damaged seat components. A movable plunger is rigidly attached to the inner seat back frame. Another bracket with hole to accept the plunger is rigidly attached to the back pan of the outer back. The attachment of inner to outer seat backs must be strong enough so that they can't be pulled apart by hand but at the same time be detachable in the event of a crash. A tab that engages the plunger separates upon a rapid deceleration event.

Abstract: The invention involves shifting the location of the seat belt retractor in order to reduce the thickness of the seat especially in the lower regions for a mobile vehicle seat. The seat may be used for a mobile vehicle as a school bus as well as for automotive applications. The seat belt retractors are attached to a portion of the seat structure that allows the webbing to exit the retractor on the front surface of the seat back. The webbing is then allowed to cross over to the rear surface of the seat back as it rises to the turning-loop. The retractor may be located forward of the seat back pivot point on the seat frame in order to allow for the webbing to exit on the front surface of the seat back.

Abstract: The invention involves creating a thinner structured seat capable of complying with the federal requirements. The steel back pan is rigidly mounted on three edges to the back frame seat structure. The bottom of the back pan is unformed and allowed to flex in the fore-aft direction. The back pan is then covered with foam that may be one third as thick at the bottom as to thickness at the top of the back pan. The three to one ration of the lower to upper portion for the foam is important in achieving seat thinness. When seat spacing is measured at the h-point or cushion level, the knee protection zone is thinner than conventional seats and allows for a greater number of seats to be placed into a school bus. Utilizing a flexible steel back pan combined with foam in the proper ratios to absorb energy in the knee protection zone through the upper portion achieves the invention.

Abstract: An apparatus is for glossing a sheet having a thermoplastic resin on the surface thereof. The thermoplastic resin is capable of forming a film which imparts gloss upon the application of heat. The apparatus includes a sheet support, a first pair of rollers for feeding the sheet onto the sheet support wherein the resin side of the sheet is away from the sheet support, heating elements, a blower for blowing air through the heating elements to generate hot air which is blown onto the sheet, and a second pair of cold rollers for receiving the sheet after passage over the sheet support.

Abstract: A two roll pressure developer for a microencapsulated web or medial material includes rolls which have a support shaft through the center, a hollow annular shell, and load-bearing elastomer material between the shaft and the shell supporting the shell and controlling the deflection of the shaft under development loads. The elastomer material is formed as a plurality of discrete annular segments with inside diameters mounted on the shaft and outer diameters mounted in the shell. The segments are distributed along the length of the shaft so as to provide the roll with a variable modulus of elasticity which is highest at the axial center of the shaft and lower at the ends. In one embodiment, the segments are identical in width and are varied in pitch or axial spacing. In another embodiment, the segments are spaced at the same pitch but are varied in axial thickness.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for color correction while exposing a photosensitive material are disclosed. The material comprises a supportive substrate which is at least partially transmissive and has a layer of microcapsules on the surface thereof. The microcapsules contain a color precursor and a photohardenable or photosoftenable composition. The substrate is positioned on or near a reflective surface having greater reflectivity within a selected wavelength band. An exposure beam is directed onto the substrate, whereby at least a portion of the beam passes through the substrate to the reflective surface. Since the surface reflects a greater portion of the light within the selected band, color correction is achieved.

Abstract: A pressure roll is disclosed particularly for fixing and developing sheet material which is treated by passing through a high pressure nip defined by a pair of the rolls. The roll includes a support shaft and a cylindrical roll body secured to the shaft. To produce a uniform force along the pressure nip when a pair of the rolls are placed under load, the body is formed from a body material having a modulus of elasticity which varies as a function of position along the length of said body. The body is encased in a cylindrical shell.

Abstract: A laser-addressed liquid crystal cell is disclosed for recording image information in the form of a plurality of marks selectively positioned in accordance with a predefined pattern of pixels. The cell includes a layer of a liquid crystal material, and an infrared radiation absorbing material for producing heat in response to infrared radiation to create the marks by forming scattering regions in the liquid crystal material. A mark positioning layer is included, having infrared transmissive material and infrared non-transmissive material. These material are arranged within the mark positioning layer such that one of these two materials defines a series of discrete elements corresponding to the pattern of pixels. Such material is surrounded within the positioning layer by the other of the two materials.

Abstract: The present invention provides an imaging process wherein the pressure application developer means is not contaminated during pressure development. The process involves an imaging web including a support having a layer on the surface thereof of photosensitive microcapsules including an internal phase of a photohardenable photosensitive composition and a color former. The imaging web is image-wise exposed to a first source of actinic radiation to form an image area; this exposure defines a border area in the web comprising the areas of the imaging web surrounding the image area. The image area of the imaging web is contacted with an opaque receiver sheet. The border area is then uniformly exposed to a second source of actinic radiation to harden the microcapsules in the border area.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a high resolution full color exposure device using electronically generated masks, from computer output, for color separations which yield full color hard-copy. A blue color separation is electronically generated and a photosensitive material is exposed to a first wavelength through the blue color separation. A green color separation is then electronically generated and the same photosensitive material is exposed to a second wavelength through the green separation. A red color separation is electronically generated and the same photosensitive material is exposed to a third wavelength through the red color separation. Upon development of the photosensitive material, a full color image is formed.

Abstract: A three-roll press for a web including a pair of pressing rolls forming a nip and a pressure roll bearing on one of the pressing rolls in which the deflection curve of one of the pressing rolls is matched to that of the other pressing roll by the application of a biasing force to the one pressing roll urging its end toward the pressure roll by an amount which is proportional to the internal moment in the one pressing roll at locations corresponding to the edges of a web in the nip therebetween. A compensating spring is employed to urge the one pressing roll toward the pressure roll. The pressing roll may be a crowned roll or a skewed roll.

Abstract: A web transport and metering system provides the continuous delivery of a web to a developer while providing intermittent delivery of the web to an exposure station. An exposure station is defined between a pair of spaced-apart rolls, and a supply of web material leads to the exposure station over a loop-forming roller carried on a movable carriage or truck. A second loop-forming roller on the carriage receives the web from the second roll of the exposure station and delivers the web to a continuously running developer. The carriage is movable on guides or tracks parallel to the plane of the exposure station between first and second positions, which positions are defined by limit switches which operate a controllable brake on one of the exposure station rolls to interrupt movement of the web at the exposure station. During such interrupted movement, the developer draws web material from the second loop, and the movement of the carriage pulls web material into the first loop.

Abstract: The present invention provides an imaging process wherein the pressure application developer means is not contaminated during pressure development. The process involves an imaging web including a support having a layer on the surface thereof of photosensitive microcapsules including an internal phase of a photohardenable photosensitive composition and a color former. The imaging web is image-wise exposed to a first source of actinic radiation to form an image area; this exposure defines a border area in the web comprising the areas of the imaging web surrounding the image area. The image area of the imaging web is contacted with an opaque receiver sheet. The border area is then uniformly exposed to a second source of actinic radiation to harden the microcapsules in the border area.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for pressure developing imaging sheets are described. In a three roll embodiment, first and second rolls are journaled into a housing to form a nip for rupturing microcapsules on the surface of an imaging sheet as it is passed through the nip. Such rolls are aligned at a slight skew angle and are resiliently pressed into one another by means of a third roll supported at a skew angle relative to the roll it contacts. In a two roll embodiment, the first and second rolls are crowned and pressed into contact with one another to present a uniform nip. In a four roll embodiment, the first and second rolls are aligned in parallel with each other, while a skewed roll backs up each of the first and second rolls. The backup rolls may alternatively be crowned. In any embodiment, the imaging sheet is directed into the nip to contact one roll at an angle of arc along the roll ahead of the nip.