This patent discloses apparatus for effecting changes in the position of a workpiece, the apparatus comprising a transmitter or control unit which is coupled to a remotely positioned manipulator or receiver. Each of the transmitter and receiver includes a chamber, the chamber of the transmitter being connected to the chamber of the receiver by tubing and the like. In the chamber of the transmitter is means to effect large volumetric changes in the volume of the chamber and separate means to effe...

A game is provided which requires the skill of the player to manipulate a first member such as a simulated hook or grapple into engagement with a second member such as a fish whereby the two are retained together by releasable fastener and to thereafter manipulate the second member by the skill of manipulation of the first member upwardly through adjacent narrow, elongated formations such as spaced parallel bars which, if the second member is not properly aligned with said formations, said forma...

A manipulation puzzle consisting of rigid or semi-rigid components is disclosed. The puzzle is solved by manipulating the components through a specific sequence of movements, in predetermined order, in accordance with a code employed in the construction of the puzzle. Various interacting components are interchangeable, thereby providing for the construction of "families" of puzzles. The puzzle comprises a plurality of ring members disposed to form a cylinder about a plurality of longitudinal sli...

At least two manipulators have parallel axes of rotation. Each manipulator is provided with an arm connected to a common coupling member. Movement of the coupling member rotates the manipulators about their axes. The arms describe paths which intersect each other. The manipulators comprise a positioning device suitable for placing electrical components on a support.

Separation of particles types from a mixed population of particles in a liquid is obtained in an ultrasonic wave produced by interference between the outputs from spaced ultrasonic sources (115,118). One or more selected particle types may be separated by displacement axially along the standing wave or may be carried transversely through the standing wave or by combining both methods. The described separation can be achieved by control of flow of the liquid or giving the standing wave a drift, o...

3-degrees-of-freedom universal joints UJ1 and UJ2 for allowing the hand H1 to make up-down swing motions D1 and side-to-side swing motions D2 are joined to the top right and left parts, respectively, of the wrist portion of the hand H1, and a 2-degrees-of-freedom universal joint UJ3 for allowing the hand H1 to make twisting rotations D3 is joined to the wrist portion of the hand H1 so as to serve as the center of 3-degrees-of-freedom.

A method for performing a reordering operation on a matrix of input data values, the method comprising: loading the data values into a computer store by forming a plurality of data strings, each data string comprising a plurality of data sub-strings and each data sub-string representing at least one of the data values, and storing each data string in a register of the computer store in which its sub-strings are not individually addressable; and performing a series of data reordering steps operat...

An apparatus which manipulates particles suspended in a fluid includes a duct for the flow of the fluid in which the particles are suspended, and a mechanism for establishing an acoustic standing wave field across the width of the duct, the duct being formed with an expansion in width downstream of the standing wave field. In use, the particles in the fluid are displaced into a series of parallel bands by the acoustic standing wave field. The particles remain in these bands as the fluid flows do...

A computer and a method of operating a computer is disclosed which allow manipulation of data values in the context of the execution of so-called "packed instructions". Packed instructions are carried out on packed operands. A packed operand comprises a data string consisting of a plurality of sub-strings, each defining a particular data value or object. The invention relates to a restructuring instruction which allows objects to be reorganized within a data string thereby minimizing loading and...

An apparatus for manipulating the colour of an image is provided, having a microphone for providing electrical speech signals representative of a user command, a speech recognition unit for recognizing the input speech signal, a command interpreter for interpreting the recognized speech, a graphics package responsive to the command interpreter and a display for displaying the current image being edited. The apparatus accepts other inputs, for example, from a pointing device.