Abstract: In a flexible bellows used to implement some change of volume, material is added inside of the convolution walls to reduce the clearance volume associated with the fully compressed mode. For gas compression applications, this combination of bellows walls and independently-added filling material not only improves the volume and compression ratios available but also provides an opportunity to design for lower stress and longer life.

Abstract: A resilient diaphragm using a single non-circular rolling convolution to seal pressure around a pistonlike body. The outer wall of the convolution and the perimeter of the diaphragm have the shape of a racetrack, i.e., of a rectangle with two semicircles added. The rectangle part may be made of sheet metal but at least the curved part of the convolution within the semicircles must be of elastomer material such as a rubber coated fabric. The shape of the inner wall may include some additional curvature so that the two walls can have equal lengths. Production of this diaphragm does not require a full-sized curing mold. When it is used in place of a piston in a Stirling engine, a thermal barrier may be needed to protect the elastomer part from the heat and a configuration is preferred in which the reciprocating diaphragm and an array of slender-column displacing elements form a compact package on opposite sides of a cylindrical wall.

Abstract: A metallic bellows consisting of two plates and one or more annular arrays of resiliently overlapping curved flexible radially-oriented strips. Each region of overlap is sealed by means of a silicone elastomer which tolerates high temperature. Overlap resilience of these strips helps accommodate greater volume displacement and long life while maintaining adequate pressure sealing. This bellows can replace the common and more expensive piston and cylinder in an engine such as a Stirling engine where it can reduce or eliminate friction and leakage losses.

Abstract: A system of mirrors which focuses solar radiation onto a receiver by means of controlled flexural deformations of supporting beams using controls which tilt the mirrors with respect to the beams. This combination of flexure and tilt causes the mirrors to track the sun using an inexpensive system of controls. The use of cables, of parts which can have shorter ranges of operation and of fewer controls than conventional heliostats all contribute to cost reductions.

Abstract: An analog-to-digital converter is disclosed which reads the positions of one or more coaxial shafts in terms of time intervals which occur between an interception of a beam of light and the end of a sequence of pulses coming from a spinning magnetized disk. These intervals are measured by pulse counters. If two shafts are being encoded, each disk revolution establishes positional communication with one light beam and two magnetic reading heads.