A silo for mixing dried and powdery materials such as cement. A number of discharge apertures positioned at different places at the bottom of a mixing silo are connected by conduits to a common receptacle such as an homogenizing silo. A flow control gate is coupled to each discharge aperture to allow material flow to the receptacle to be controlled. Three modes of operation are disclosed: a single flow-mode wherein the flow control gates are opened sequentially one at a time, a dual-flow-same-ra...

A method for analyzing stored image details for identification purposes is disclosed in which slopes are abstracted from an image to provide three-dimensional recognition information. Data representing light levels of an image are stored in a picture memory device, which is analyzed in a predetermined manner to select absolute illumination magnitudes between fixed locations of the image. This information is directly related to the slope between the locations. Steeper slopes and their correspondi...

A method for characterizing a pattern present as stored information, includes the steps of generating a characterizing proposal for the pattern using a server computer system, presenting the pattern and the characterizing proposal to a client computer using a computer program via the Internet so as to enable a user to perform an evaluation of the characterizing proposal, and receiving an evaluation input from the user at the server computer system. The evaluation input is one of an acceptance in...

Various embodiments of systems and methods for preserving saved memory states to which a computer system can be restored are disclosed. In certain embodiments, the systems and methods intercept write operations to protected memory locations and redirect them to alternate memory locations. Embodiments of the systems and methods include creation of a table for each memory state. Certain embodiments additionally include a recovery capability, by which the protected memory in the computer system is ...

A stored-value card includes a housing and a light circuit. The housing defines a first primary panel and a second primary panel spaced from the first primary panel. The first primary panel defines an account identifier signifying a financial account linked to the stored-value card. A side is defined between the first primary panel and the second primary panel. The light circuit includes a light and a switch and is generally enclosed within the housing but for the light. The light extends from t...

A stored-value card includes a housing and at least one internal wall substantially enclosed within the housing. The housing includes an account identifier signifying a financial account or record linked to the stored-value card. The at least one internal wall is configured to define an airflow chamber within the housing. The housing defines an opening leading into the airflow chamber. The stored-value card is configured to produce a whistle sound when air enters the airflow chamber from the ope...

A database system includes components for executing stored procedures that include at least one of a conditional expression, assignment expression, and dynamic database query language (e.g., SQL) statement. For each such expression, a predetermined type of code is generated and inserted into the object code corresponding to the stored procedure. When executing the stored procedure object code, the predetermined type of code is evaluated directly without having to generate a separate database que...

A stored-value card including a housing, a game, and an object. The housing includes an account identifier adapted to link the stored-value card to a financial account or a financial record. The game is enclosed within the housing. The object is also enclosed within the housing and placed to selectively interact with the game. The stored-value card is adapted such that manipulation of the housing results in the object moving through at least a portion of the game. Stored-value card assemblies, m...

A stored energy gyroscope includes a power spring contained within the gyroscope rotor. A latching arm is positioned to hold the rotor in place with the spring fully wound, and when the latching arm is released from the hold position the power spring unwinds to drive the rotor up to speed. A sustaining motor contained within the rotor extends the useful life of the gyroscope by maintaining angular momentum of the rotor and eliminating deceleration torques upon dissipation of the spring power.

For continuous supply of expander material to the negative electrode of a lead storage battery, particularly a quinone derivative, this material is provided within an acid-resistant plastic vessel with an aperture toward the electrolyte, or in a chemically neutral matrix in tablet form. The size of the aperture or the porosity of the chemically neutral matrix so regulates the expander delivery that uniform supply is insured during at least a portion of the life span of the storage battery.