1. A seatbelt apparatus having a limited non-disengagement crash-load-limiting payout slip (limited slip) belt engagement device, wherein the threshold of resistance to slip of said apparatus varies.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said limited slip occurs in response to an adaptively variable load.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said threshold of resistance to slip adaptively varies in response to at least one of vehicle speed, occupant mass, and vehicle crush resistance.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said limited slip defines a peak belt load mitigating slip.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said limited slip defines at least a partial slip of a belt male connection member from a belt female connection member.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said limited slip occurs in response to a crash.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said apparatus is adapted such that in a first scenario said apparatus allows limited release of a seatbelt in response to a seatbelt tension disengagement load, and wherein in a second scenario said apparatus allows complete release of a seatbelt in response to a hands-free seatbelt tension disengagement load.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein a load required to cause said limited slip in said first scenario is greater than the load required to cause complete release of said seatbelt in said second scenario.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said load of said first scenario defines a load in the range of 20 to 750 pounds, and wherein said load of said second scenario defines a load in the range of 1 to 200 pounds.
10. A seatbelt apparatus adapted such that in a first scenario said apparatus allows limited non-disengagement crash-load-limiting payout release (limited release) of a seatbelt in response to a seatbelt tension disengagement load, and wherein in a second scenario said apparatus allows complete release (complete disconnection) of a seatbelt in response to a hands-free seatbelt tension disengagement load, wherein the threshold of resistance to release of said seatbelt varies.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said limited release defines a limited slip of a limited slip belt engagement device.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said limited release of a seatbelt occurs in response to an adaptively variable load.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said threshold of resistance to release of said seatbelt adaptively varies in response to at least one of vehicle speed, occupant mass, and vehicle crush resistance.
14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said limited release of a seatbelt defines a peak belt load mitigating limited release.
15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said limited release of a seatbelt defines at least a partial release of a first belt connection member from a second belt connection member.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said first belt connection member defines a belt male connection member and wherein said second belt connection member defines a belt female connection member.
17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said limited release of a seatbelt occurs in response to a crash.
18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein a load required to cause said limited release of a seatbelt in said first scenario is greater than the load required to cause complete release of said seatbelt in said second scenario.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said load of said first scenario defines a load in the range of 20 to 750 pounds, and wherein said load of said second scenario defines a load in the range of 1 to 200 pounds.
20. A seatbelt apparatus that disengages in response to a hands-free seatbelt tension disengagement load.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An apparatus for imaging a section of a medium which receives and returns light from the section and from sites adjacent to the section, the apparatus comprising:
an optical system for directing light in beams of different polarization in the medium along an optical axis and returning light from the medium, the optical system comprising:
a pinhole lens assembly configured to receive the returned light, the pinhole lens assembly having a focal length, and wherein the focal length is configured such that a first focal point of the pinhole lens assembly is located substantially at a pupil of the optical system such that the pinhole assembly is telecentric; and
a detector configured to receive the returned light from the pinhole lens assembly and produce an electrical signal in response to the received light.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a processor in communication with the detector and configured to generate an image of the section based on the electrical signal of the detector.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electrical signal of the detector is configured to correspond to a polarization parameter of the received light.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the polarization parameter is a function of a differential circular dichroism or optical activity of the returned light.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the polarization parameter is a degree of rotation of the polarization of the returned light.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the beams overlap in the medium to reduce a portion of the light returned from the sites adjacent to the section that are spaced generally along the optical axis.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the beams are incident in the medium at spots spaced from each other along the optical axis.
8. A method of imaging a section of a medium which receives and returns light from the section and from sites adjacent to the section, the method comprising the steps of:
directing light in beams of different polarization to the medium along an optical axis;
directing light returned from the medium to a detector by way of a pinhole assembly;
causing the returned light to be substantially telecentric at the detector;
detecting, at the detector, the returned light; and
generating an image of the section from the detected light, the image generated in response to a polarization parameter of the returned light.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the beams overlap in the medium to reduce a portion of the light returned from the sites adjacent to the section which are spaced generally along the optical axis.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the beams are incident in the medium at spots spaced from each other along the optical axis.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the polarization parameter is a degree of rotation of the polarization of the returned light.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein said polarization parameter is a function of a differential circular dichroism or optical activity of the returned light.