A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for passing a VisualBasic array argument to an SQL stored procedure executed by a computer. The VisualBasic array is first created in the memory of the computer and comprises an object. The array is then passed to a C or C++ function in the memory of the computer. The function to which the array is passed is declared as an alias for another function within VisualBasic. Execution of the function by the computer returns a handle for the passed array....

A chilling chamber connected to a water tank or a reservoir which may be within a water purifier or to a pipe within which water flows has a thermally conductive probe which is connected to the cold side of a thermoelectric device, the hot side being connected to a heat sink. A tube is coiled about the probe and has one end connected with the water in the storage reservoir or pipe and another end connected to a faucet. A liquid heat transfer medium such as water is stored within the chilling cha...

A safety apparatus (12) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle having a side structure (16) comprises an inflatable protection device (14) having an inflated condition disposed between the vehicle occupant and the side structure. The safety apparatus (12) also comprises an inflator assembly (10) for inflating the protection device (14) and for maintaining the protection device in the inflated condition for at least five seconds. The inflator assembly (10) includes at least one container...

A program material screening device is provided whereby the owner/operator of a program material playback device such as a videocassette player, television, laser disc player, motion picture projector, phonograph or the like may automatically and selectively prevent the reproduction into humanly perceivable form of unwanted program material. The screening device is capable of recognizing non-interfering material content signals stored along with the program signals that are reproduced by the pro...

A plotter system having a plotter wherein, in a state in which the fore end of a writing utensil grasped by a pen carriage is brought into contact with the surface of a sheet placed on a recording surface, the pen carriage is moved in X-Y directions relative to the sheet on this sheet in accordance with movement data items transferred from a host computer, thereby to depict figures, characters etc. on the sheet surface. The plotter system comprises a nonvolatile memory capable of storing therein...

To control cooling by oxidant surrounding a combustion chamber (20, 20'), a stored energy combustor (10, 10') includes an oxidant flow path (28) which extends about the combustion chamber (20, 20'). The stored energy combustor (10, 10') comprises a vessel (12, 12') having a wall (14, 14') defining spaced inlet and outlet ends (16 and 18) interconnected by the combustion chamber (20, 20'), an oxidant inlet port (22) upstream of the combustion chamber (20, 20') for directing oxidant thereinto, and...

A stored-gas inflator includes a pressure-resistant container having a high-pressure-gas chamber and a gas outlet for ejecting gas from the high-pressure-gas chamber; a burst shim attached to the gas outlet for sealing thereof; a duct disposed inside the high-pressure-gas chamber having an end facing the burst shim; and an initiator attached to the duct for generating gas pressure so that the gas pressure is guided through the duct to push the burst shim. The stored-gas inflator can easily eject...

A cartridge includes upper and lower half segments butting against each other and containing a disk, a shutter provided on one side of the cartridge half segments for exposing or alternatively enclosing the disk, and a torsion spring attached to the shutter for biasing the shutter in a closing direction. An insertion opening is formed in a side portion of the cartridge for permitting insertion of the torsion spring therethrough from outside, and a protective wall is provided upright between the ...

A device for protection of data stored in a memory includes a supply voltage drop detection device to set an enabling signal in an active state when a supply voltage is below a threshold and a flip-flop circuit whose output controls the state of the enabling signal concurrently with the supply voltage drop detection device so that all programming is prohibited when the flip-flop circuit stores a first state, and the protection device is organized in such a way that this state of the flip-flop ci...

Receivable frequencies based on a predetermined instruction signal are scanned in a first direction and across a frequency range extending from a first start frequency to a first end frequency. The tuning is retraced to the first start frequency, and scanning is resumed in the opposite direction across a second frequency range extending from the first start frequency to a second end frequency. Next, tuning is retraced to the second start frequency and scanning is resumed in the first direction a...