A thin film device which may be used as a fuze or fuse. The device comprises a pair of conductive layers separated and joined to opposite... Show moreA thin film device which may be used as a fuze or fuse. The device comprises a pair of conductive layers separated and joined to opposite faces of a thin insulating layer to thereby form a three layer sandwich. One of the conductive layers and the insulating layer have a plurality of pin holes therein, the sides of each being coated by a bridge element of low density, low specific heat metal so as to short circuit or bridge the conductive layers. Terminal means are connected respectively to the conductive layers to supply electrical energy which passes from one conductive layer to the other conductive layer via the metal bridge elements. When the electrical energy exceeds a predetermined amount, the bridge elements vaporize. The vaporization of the bridge elements can be employed to initiate detonation of an explosive train thereby serving as a fuze. Alternatively, the device may be employed as an electrical fuse wherein the vaporization of the bridge elements caused by electrical energy interrupts the flow of electrical energy in an electrical circuit. Sponsorship: IIT Research Institute United States Patent Show less
A highly sensitive and selective sensor for the detection of halogenated compounds comprises a bead of sodium lanthanum fluoride silicate,... Show moreA highly sensitive and selective sensor for the detection of halogenated compounds comprises a bead of sodium lanthanum fluoride silicate, having the molecular formula NaLa.sub.4 (SiO.sub.4).sub.3 F, in which are embedded two noble metal electrodes, preferably a straight platinum wire near the center and a helical platinum wire near the periphery of the bead. A current passing through the helical wire maintains the sensor temperature at about 550.degree. C. by resistive heating. The electrical resistance between the two wires is deduced from measurements of the current passing through a fixed external resistor when a substantially constant voltage, preferably about 4 volts, is applied between the wires. A decrease in the measured resistance is an indication of the presence of a halogenated compound in the sample of air to which the bead is exposed. The sensor is preferably controlled by a microprocessor or microcomputer that also performs data processing. This system not only detects a halogenated compound of interest, but also measures its concentration. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
A magnetic transducer system for selective audio or video operation with movable guides for shifting the tape path between audio, video and... Show moreA magnetic transducer system for selective audio or video operation with movable guides for shifting the tape path between audio, video and rewind positions, or with fixed guides defining both an audio and video tape path, the audio tape path being clear of the video head, for example. A video transducer with a receptacle removably receiving and providing external energization for a battery powered audio transducer unit. Sponsorship: IIT Research Institute United States Patent Show less
Reduction of carbon oxides products in oxidative pyrolysis of halogenated methanes in gas phase halogen-catalyzed oxidative-pyrolytic, non... Show moreReduction of carbon oxides products in oxidative pyrolysis of halogenated methanes in gas phase halogen-catalyzed oxidative-pyrolytic, non-flame, conversion of methane to higher molecular weight hydrocarbons is carried out in the presence of oxygen-containing gas which is primarily introduced in a latter portion of the process sequence reducing the oxygen requirement for effective suppression of formation of carbonaceous deposits thereby reducing carbon oxides product. Conversion of halogenated methanes to high yields of ethylene by conduct of the reaction in the presence of methane further reduces oxygen requirements and results in insignificant solid carbonaceous deposit formation. Sponsorship: Illinois institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
A method in a data processing system of searching a plurality of electronic files identified by filenames in a first hierarchical file... Show moreA method in a data processing system of searching a plurality of electronic files identified by filenames in a first hierarchical file structure that is on a recordable medium of the data processing system. A user-defined metalabel is assigned to each of the electronic files. The electronic files are organized as a function of the metalabels into a second hierarchical file structure existing simultaneously with the first hierarchical file structure on the recordable medium of the data processing system. A search query is received from a user and the metalabels of the second hierarchical file structure are searched as a function of the query. Each electronic file having a metalabel matching the query is returned to the user as a search result. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
Retroreflective glass or plastic beads have fluorescent properties when irradiated with ultraviolet light and are emplaced in signs in... Show moreRetroreflective glass or plastic beads have fluorescent properties when irradiated with ultraviolet light and are emplaced in signs in patterns indicative of alphanumeric characters, or embedded in a hot melt comprising road stripes or embedded in the road asphalt or aggregate during construction of the road, to provide effectively bright and clear indications of signs or the extent and direction of the road. The glass beads comprise spherodized soda lime, borosilicate, phosphosilicate or aluminosilicate glasses with low levels of rare-earth dopants mixed therein, such as compounds containing one of the rare earths, or lanthanides. The plastic beads may have fluorescent materials mixed therein, typically organic pigments or dyes based on coumarin and rhodamine or the like. Sponsorship: IIT Research Institute United States Patent Show less
A process and apparatus for single screw solid state shear extrusion pulverization of polymeric materials in which the polymeric materials are... Show moreA process and apparatus for single screw solid state shear extrusion pulverization of polymeric materials in which the polymeric materials are heated to a temperature suitable for forming a continuous thin film of said polymeric material, and then cooled, and normal and shear forces sufficient to form powder of the polymeric material are applied by a single cylindrical or conical mesh screw. The resulting powder is fluidized upon its discharge. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
An optimized document-indexing device is based on a pruned inverted index structure mapped to hardware. The device can be accommodated on a... Show moreAn optimized document-indexing device is based on a pruned inverted index structure mapped to hardware. The device can be accommodated on a single chip and can be reprogrammed to accommodate index structures of different lengths and support varied posting-list sizes and varied term list sizes, thus sustaining high reusability and efficiency for a single device. The device can be used either as an internal slave component or as an external co-processor. The device controllers are efficient in resource demands and take only a minimal percentage of the logic and memory space of the hardware device. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
Optimum antenna-like exciters for heating earth media which may be used to recover hydrocarbons. A high frequency power supply is connected to... Show moreOptimum antenna-like exciters for heating earth media which may be used to recover hydrocarbons. A high frequency power supply is connected to an exciter emplaced in the subsurface formation which radiates high frequency power. The exciters include one or more conducting cylinders which make up monopole and dipole antenna-like apparatus. Substantially uniform heating of the subsurface formation is provided thus suppressing excessive heating of edge and power input regions. The equal distribution of electric fields eliminates intense electric fields which would normally exist thus mitigating excessively heated regions and providing substantially uniform heating of the subsurface formation. Sponsorship: IIT Research Institute United States Patent Show less
An electric energy storage system (EESS) for providing a power management solution for a multi-subsystem energy storage in electric, hybrid... Show moreAn electric energy storage system (EESS) for providing a power management solution for a multi-subsystem energy storage in electric, hybrid electric, and fuel cell vehicles. The EESS has a controller that determines when to draw power from each subsystem as needed by the vehicle. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
An indicator composition for determining a thermal or chronological history during shipping or storage of a product. The composition includes... Show moreAn indicator composition for determining a thermal or chronological history during shipping or storage of a product. The composition includes a plurality of nanoparticles dispersed throughout a matrix. The nanoparticles turn color while dispersed in the matrix as a function at least one of time and temperature. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less