Abstract: A vehicle interior monitoring system to identify, locate and monitor occupants, including their parts, and other objects in the passenger compartment and objects outside of a motor vehicle, such as an automobile or truck, by illuminating the contents of the vehicle and objects outside of the vehicle with electromagnetic, and specifically infrared, radiation and using one or more lenses to focus images of the contents onto one or more arrays of charge coupled devices (CCD arrays). Outputs from the CCD arrays, are analyzed by appropriate computational means employing trained pattern recognition technologies, to classify, identify or locate the contents or external objects. In general, the information obtained by the identification and monitoring system is used to affect the operation of some other system in the vehicle.

Abstract: This invention is a system to identify and monitor contents and/or parts of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, such as an automobile or truck, by processing the signal received from the contents or parts using one or more techniques, including neural networks or other pattern recognition systems, and technologies including ultrasonic and electromagnetic radiation. The received signal may be a reflection of a transmitted signal, the reflection of some natural signal within the vehicle, or may be some signal emitted naturally by the object. Information obtained by the identification and monitoring system is then used to affect the operation of some other system in the vehicle such as the airbag, entertainment system, heating and air conditioning system, or the system to darken portions of the mirrors or windshield, among others.

Abstract: An automatic seat adjustment system for a motor vehicle having a passenger compartment with a seat in which an occupant sits. The seat has power mechanisms for moving the seat relative to the passenger compartment from an initial position to an adjusted position, and control mechanisms connected to the power mechanisms for controlling the power mechanisms.

Abstract: An automatic seat adjustment system for a motor vehicle having a passenger compartment with a seat in which an occupant sits. The seat has power mechanisms for moving the seat relative to the passenger compartment from an initial position to an adjusted position, and control mechanisms connected to the power mechanisms for controlling the power mechanisms.

Abstract: The displacement sensor of this invention comprises a tube combined with a sonic transmitter and receiver. The tube acts as a waveguide for the sonic waves and a processor determines whether the tube has changed in length or has been constricted which, in either case, changes the pattern of sonic waves traveling from the transmitter to the receiver. In some applications, the transmitter and receiver are at different ends of the tube. In these cases, the attenuation in sound energy reaching the receiver, caused by the tube being squeezed at at least one point, is measured and the amount of cross action area reduction is determined. In other applications, the transmitter and receiver are at the same end of the tube and, in some of these cases, the transmitter and receiver are the same transducer.

Abstract: An instrument (10) for the treatment of incontinence by exercise of the muscle group that includes the puboccygeous muscle furnishes electrical energy to induce muscle contraction. Energy is provided according to a pre-established exercise program at energizing rings (16, 18) at the forward, insertion section of the instrument. All variables of the exercise program are pre-established by internal electronic circuitry (FIG. 4) except energy level. Control of energy level is left to the user at touch switch elements (20, 22, 24) at the rear of the instrument.

Abstract: The number of data tracks or positions that a transducer can access or track is increased, beyond that conventionally permitted by the transducer conductor spacing, by first providing a plurality of signals corresponding in number to the factor by which the tracking capacity of the transducer is to be increased, with all signals having a common frequency equal to that of the drive signals applied to the transducer stator windings and with each signal being phase delayed relative to the other signals by one or more clock increments, then accessing the signal having a phase corresponding to the data track to be tracked, providing from that accessed signal a plurality of additional relatively phase delayed signals, and applying each of the later phase delayed signals to one of a plurality of phase detectors each of which also receives an input corresponding to the squared transducer rotor signal whereby the phase detectors provide at their output width modulated signals having a low frequency component correspon

Abstract: To generate a signal having at all times an amplitude directly proportional to the velocity of relatively moving members, a plurality of phase displaced position indicative signals are first generated. A pair of the position signals that are phase displaced by 90.degree. are then differentiated to provide velocity signals. Each velocity signal is applied in both its regular form and its inverted form to an analog multiplexer which receives the other position signals as control signals. The composite output of the multiplexer, after filtering to remove high frequency glitches due to sampling, is a signal having an amplitude at all times directly proportional to velocity.

Abstract: Settling problems of a closed loop servo system are substantially eliminated by switching the servo system into position mode operation only when there is zero position error and zero velocity error. The fast and clean settling is accomplished by digitizing the instantaneous amplitude of the position signal when the difference count has decremented to zero and using that digital value as the address of a square root look up table which provides for each instantaneous amplitude of the position signal a digital signal indicative of the instantaneous velocity required to effect rapid settling at the rest position. The digitized velocity signal is converted to an analog signal by a digital to analog converter for energization of the drive motor.

Abstract: A thermally controlled servo system in which a member supporting the drive for a device to be accurately positioned is moved relative to a stationary support member in response to changes in temperature of an elongated, tensioned member. Changes in temperature of the tensioned member are achieved by regulating the current flow through the tensioned member in accordance with a control signal derived from an error signal generated by the device to be positioned.

Abstract: A distributed function processing system utilizing a conventional microprocessor operated as a text processor in combination with a plurality of other autonomous processing devices arranged to operate in a coherent processing system. One of the autonomous processors which is a memory control processor serves to periodically overlay a random access accelerator memory with the contents of a main memory system and concurrently resolves conflicts among various other autonomous memory service requests. This processor, therefore, accommodates the data rates of the main memory. The other processor is a display processor which generates signals to a video display system to provide a visual interface to the user and is therefore tied to the video rate. Accordingly, the processing burden is distributed within processors entailing differing rates operating autonomously.

Abstract: A keyboard encoding system which utilizes electronic hysteresis to prevent undesired key stroke encoding. The output of a capacitive switch matrix is supplied to a sense amplifier which has its sensitivity increased if a particular switch of the switch matrix was closed the last scan cycle. The status of the switches of the switch matrix during the last scan cycle is provided by a shift register having a number of stages equal to the number of switches of the matrix. The sense amplifier includes a comparator which receives an input indicative of the state of a particular matrix switch during the present scan cycle and an input from the shift register indicative of the status of the particular matrix switch the previous scan cycle. If the input from the shift register is high, the sensitivity of the sense amplifier is increased.

Abstract: A keyboard encoding system having a pause built into the repeat key function. A multi-stage counter has a first of its stages coupled to a first bistable switching device and another, higher order stage coupled to a second bistable switching device. When a repeat key is closed, the counter is incremented past the first stage to the higher order stage which renders the second bistable switching device conductive and, due to the interconnection between the switching devices, primes the first bistable switching device. When the counter again increments to the first stage, the first bistable switching device conducts to produce, after the pause provided by the system, a repeat key encoding signal.