Abstract:
A deviation meter, responding to a deviation signal, is mounted on a turntable which rotates in response to a set point adjustment. Rotation of the turntable maintains the null position of the deviation meter pointer at a scale position corresponding to a set point value, so that a direct readout of the actual measurement value is provided.
Abstract:
A combination of an apparatus (22) and an engine (30) to provide power to the apparatus, a vehicle (10) of the type having a hydraulic system for operating digging, excavating, or shovelling tools (16,21) for examples, the hydraulic system being pressurized by a pump (33) which is driven from the engine (30) of the vehicle, there being a fuel delivery system for providing fuel to the engine, and a sensing means (49) to sense operation of the apparatus, the fuel delivery system comprising means (48) responsive to the sensing means (49) to provide a first quantity of fuel to the engine (50) when the apparatus (22) is being operated, and to provide a second, reduced, quantity of fuel to the engine (30) when the apparatus has not been operative for a predetermined delay time.
Abstract:
A force-measuring instrument of the vibrating-wire type wherein the mechanical components are located at the force-measuring location and the vibrating wire is coupled through a two-wire transmission line to electronic circuitry at a distant location. The electronic circuitry includes means to excite the vibrating wire and to produce a d-c measurement output signal corresponding to the frequency of vibrations. The electronic circuitry further includes function-generating means to establish a closely-linear relationship between the output current and the force applied to the wire. Means also are incorporated in the electronic circuitry for adjusting the zero and span of the instrument, and this can be done without interaction between the adjustments.
Abstract:
A sprouter having a wall or walls defining the lateral extent of a growing chamber, and a base connected to the wall or walls for forming a bottom of the chamber. The base includes proturbances that form indentations on the base for retaining a quantity of water which supplies sprouts growing in the growing chamber with water for a predetermined length of time. The proturbances also prevent seeds in the growing chamber from sliding when the base is tilted slightly during movement.
Abstract:
A positioning device for controlling a member such as a pen of a chart recorder, wherein the positioning motion is produced by a wire formed of temperature-responsive material (Nitinol) exhibiting a martensitic transformation which contracts the wire when its temperature is increased within a predetermined temperature range, and relaxes the wire when cooled within that range. The wire is maintained under tension by a spring having a negative spring-rate. This spring cooperates with internally generated forces and the elasticity of the wire material to produce contraction/expansion length changes of the wire in response to changes in its temperature. Electrical circuitry for controlling the wire temperature is disclosed, and includes means for inductively developing a frequency-modulated pulse-current through the wire.
Abstract:
Flow-metering apparatus of the vortex-shedding type wherein an obstruction in a flowing fluid develops a series of vortices which are sensed by a pressure-responsive piezo-electric element to produce an alternating voltage having a frequency corresponding to the fluid flow rate. The piezo-electric voltage signal is processed by electronic circuitry to provide for precise detection of the zero-crossings of the voltage alternations. The resulting frequency signal controls the charge/discharge characteristics of a set of capacitors, with the average charging current corresponding in magnitude to the frequency of vortex shedding. This average current controls an output amplifier in a feedback arrangement to produce a relatively high-powered d-c flow signal over a two-wire transmission line leading to a remote station. In another arrangement, a high-powered pulsating flow signal is developed for transmission over a three-wire transmission line leading to a remote station.
Abstract:
A suturing needle assembly used in a surgical operation to correct anatomical stress urinary incontinence, the suturing needle assembly having a needle and a sheath. The needle has an elongated flexible portion and a rigid portion which defines a tip for piercing tissue and an eyelet for removably attaching surgical thread. The sheath may selectively envelop the needle when it is beneficial to protect the patient and surgeon from the sharp tip. The flexibility and length of the needle and the sheath allow the suturing needle assembly to navigate a contoured internal passageway such as a female reproductive tract. According to a method of the present invention, the suturing needle assembly, laden with surgical thread, is inserted into a patient's vagina and guided to an operating site at the superior wall of the vagina below the urinary bladder neck. At the operating site, the needle tip is thrust through the superior wall of the vagina and into the retropubic space a sufficient number of times so that the superior wall of the vagina may be elevated and bound to structures in the retropubic space. As a result, problems of stress urinary incontinence are alleviated using the suturing needle assembly in a procedure which avoids needle stick of the surgeon's fingers.
Abstract:
A batch and continuous process is disclosed for the production of a composition comprising alkali metal salts of C.sub.8 -C.sub.22 alkyl fatty monocarboxylic acid and C.sub.8 -C.sub.22 acyl isethionate in a ratio of 20:1 to 1:0.98. Both batch and continuous routes require that the saponifying aqueous caustic solution includes sodium hydroxide and sodium isethionate maintained as a hot solution at a temperature of from 180.degree. F. to about 200.degree. F. For the batch route, the sequence of steps require the caustic solution to be added slowly to the fatty acid. In the continuous process, it is advantageous to introduce fatty acid upstream from the point where the caustic solution stream enters the mixing chamber.
Abstract:
Apparatus for converting an analog-format electrical signal or quantity (such as the magnitude of an electrical circuit element) into a corresponding pulse-format signal, preferably in the form of a train of periodic pulses the lengths of which are controllable as a percentage of the cyclic period. A pulsed duty-cycle signal is developed in a negative feedback loop around an integrator having an analog-format input signal. The integrator output controls the d-c level of an up-and-down ramp signal which is fed to a comparator to produce pulses during the times the ramp voltage is above (or below) the firing threshold of the comparator. These pulses control a switch between the integrator input and a reference voltage so as to produce a negative feedback signal for the integrator. The negative feedback action controls the d-c level at the integrator ouptut and thereby sets the pulse duty-cycle to a value such that the average signal level through the pulsed switch to the integrator input relates in prescribed fashion to the applied input signal. The duty-cycle signal developed through such feedback action corresponds directly to the magnitude of the applied input signal.