Implantable hearing aid apparatus having a piezoelectric ceramic element mounted adjacent to the auditory conductive system of the middle ear for imparting vibration thereto. The piezoelectric element being electrically connected to electrical circuitry for providing electrical signals representative of sound waves. The electrical circuitry and the piezoelectric element being properly encapsulated for implantation within the body.

A handset for connection to a communication system to serve as peripheral equipment apparatus is constructed as a two-part unit, in which the casing parts are hinged together and when folded down audio and manual access parts and elements are covered, but are accessible when the casing parts are folded up. In the folded up position, the microphone and speaker have particular position to each other for optimizing use as regular telephone or as a loud-speaker phone (walki-talki).

A telephone hanset is made with two elongate molded parts, a back part and a front part. The back part is arcuate in side view and is substantially rigid. The front part has a substantially flat central portion which is flexible, with a housing at each end for the transmitter and receiver. The two parts are assembled by flexing the front part to conform to the back part, the two parts being connected together. This avoids the need for complex molds for molding the front part as no re-entrant wal...

Electric component of small overall size and low weight, the characteristic value of which is variable in that it is carried by a deformable substratum; the component is in conductivity relation with other elements through deformable conductors and terminals; the component may be an elementary one such as resistance, capacitor, solenoid, photo-sensitive material and leads to complete circuits such as switches, rectifiers, pression-detectors, microphones and the like, while said conductors and te...

The inherent dependency upon frequency of the response of an electro-mechanical transducer is compensated over a wide frequency range by driving the transducer with a current source, the signal of which is modified to have a frequency characteristic which is the complement of the frequency characteristic of the mechanical response parameters of the transducer.

A method of generating an output of a frequency synthesizer is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of generating an output of the frequency synthesizer based upon frequency synthesizer values and a reference clock signal; receiving a command comprising a first new frequency synthesizer value; locking to a new frequency based upon the first new frequency synthesizer value; and simultaneously loading a second new frequency synthesizer value while locking to the new frequency. A circuit for g...

A hand-held knitting needle, crochet hook or similar tool for use in turning yarn into cloth or other material includes one or more holes, each of which is generally placed in a portion of the tool that does not interfere with use of the tool. Each hole is threaded with one or more decorative object supports, made from metals, ribbons, and leathers. Along the support may be strung or attached any combination of decorative objects. Decorative objects may include any number and kind of beads, gems...

In a table-type telephone subset all of the substantial individual parts such as the base plate, the housing, the cradle-switch, the number-switch, the electric bell or ringer and the bell domes, as well as the base plate of the number switch and the terminal box are provided with hooks shaped thereto, and with corresponding cutouts or indentations, and are assembled in accordance with the known "snap-in" technique.

A variable frequency oscillator including an oscillation unit including a ring oscillator having multiple loops, and a frequency control unit controlling switching among the multiple loops in accordance with a control input indicative of an oscillation frequency and thus generating an oscillation signal having the oscillation frequency.

A system for compensating for reference frequency drift in a communications system. The inventive system includes a frequency source for providing a reference frequency. An error determination circuit determines if the reference frequency is within a predetermined range of a desired reference frequency and provides an error signal in response thereto. A frequency correction circuit steps the reference frequency up and/or down by a predetermined amount in response to the error signal until the re...