Author: claimsbot

1. A computer-implemented method for annotating webpage content, the method comprising:
receiving, at a browser running on an electronic device from a user associated with the electronic device, a request to access a webpage, the webpage being hosted by a webpage server system under control of a third party, the electronic device being communicatively coupled with the webpage server system;
in response to said receiving from the user the request to access the webpage,
requesting the webpage by the electronic device from the webpage server, and
requesting, by the electronic device from an annotations repository system under control of an entity different from the third party, a collection of annotations stored at the annotations repository system, the annotations collection being associated with the webpage and authored by the user associated with the electronic device, the annotations collection including one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the webpage;

receiving, by the electronic device, a response from the webpage server system including a current instance of the requested webpage;
receiving, by the electronic device, a response from the annotations repository system including the requested annotations collection; and
concurrently displaying, by the electronic device, the current instance of the webpage received with the response from the webpage server system and the annotations collection received with the response from the annotations repository system, such that the one or more annotations included in the received annotations collection are overlaid on the corresponding one or more portions of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein
the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection received with the response from the annotations repository system comprise two or more annotations, and
the method further comprises:
in response to determining that a portion of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage, to which an annotation from among the two or more annotations included in the received annotations collection corresponds, has been modified by the third party since the annotation was created,
removing, by the electronic device, from the received annotations collection the annotation corresponding to the modified portion of the webpage content; and
transmitting, by the electronic device to the annotations repository system, the annotations collection without the annotation corresponding to the modified portion of the webpage content for updating the stored instance of the annotations collection.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein
said concurrently displaying the received current instance of the webpage and the received annotations collection comprises:
in response to determining that a portion of the webpage content of the webpage, to which an annotation from among the one or more annotations included in the received annotations collection corresponds, has not been modified by the third party since the annotation was created,
highlighting a text block from a portion of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage to which the annotation corresponds, and
the method further comprises:
detecting a cursor being hovered by the user associated with the electronic device over the highlighted text block;
displaying, by the electronic device in response to said detecting of the hovering cursor, supplementary information associated with the annotation corresponding to the highlighted text block, including an address of a cross-referenced webpage; and
receiving, from the user associated with the electronic device, a request seeking access to the cross-referenced webpage.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, from the user associated with the electronic device, input creating at least one new annotation on the received current instance of the webpage in addition to the one or more annotations included in the received annotations collection; and
transmitting, by the electronic device to the annotations repository system, the annotations collection with the at least one new annotation for updating the stored instance of the annotations collection.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the creating of the at least one new annotations comprises:
receiving, from the user associated with the electronic device, input highlighting a text block of interest;
recording, by the electronic device as part of the new annotation, verification information associated with the highlighted text block, including text offsets and a hash mask of the highlighted text block;
receiving, from the user associated with the electronic device, input providing supplementary information associated with the highlighted text block, the supplementary information including notes and addresses of cross-referenced webpages; and
recording, by the electronic device as part of the new annotation, the supplementary information associated with the highlighted text block.
6. The method of claim 1 further, wherein
the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection received with the response from the webpage server system comprise two or more annotations, and
the method further comprises:
receiving, from the user associated with the electronic device, input modifying at least one annotation from among the two or more annotations of the received annotations collection overlaid on the received current instance of the webpage, wherein the modifying includes removing, editing and updating; and
transmitting, by the electronic device to the annotations repository system, the annotations collection with the at least one modified annotation for updating the stored instance of the annotations collection.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
informing the user associated with the electronic device of one or more additional annotations collections being available at the annotations repository system, the one or more additional annotations collections having been authored by corresponding one or more other authors different from the user associated with the electronic device, and being associated with the webpage, each of the one or more additional annotations collections including one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the webpage;
receiving, from the user associated with the electronic device in response to said informing, a request to access an additional annotations collection from among the additional annotations collections;
in response to said receiving, from the user, of the request to access the additional annotations collection, requesting, by the electronic device from the annotations repository system, the additional annotations collection;
receiving, by the electronic device, a response from the annotations repository system including the additional annotations collection; and
concurrently displaying, by the electronic device, the received current instance of the webpage, the received additional annotations collections and the initially received annotations collection, such that the one or more annotations included in the initially received annotations collection and the one or more annotations included in the received additional annotations collection are overlaid on the corresponding portions of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:
receiving, from the user associated with the electronic device in response to said informing, another request to access another additional annotations collection from among the additional annotations collections;
in response to said receiving, from the user, of the other request to access the other additional annotations collection, requesting, by the electronic device from the annotations repository system, the other additional annotations collection; and
causing the electronic device to issue an alert if a permission to access the other additional annotations collection at the annotations repository system is denied, the permission being included in the other additional annotations collection.
9. A system for providing annotation information associated with web content, the system comprising:
a data processor configured to communicate with multiple computerized devices associated with respective authors of webpage annotations; and
an annotation information repository configured to store a plurality of collections of annotations, each of the plurality of the annotations collections having been authored by an associated annotations author and corresponding to an associated webpage, such that each of the plurality of the annotations collections includes one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the associated webpage,
wherein the data processor is configured to perform operations comprising
receiving, from a computerized device from among the multiple computerized devices that is associated with a specified author, a request to retrieve an annotations collection from among the stored plurality of annotations collections, the annotations collection referenced in the received request having been authored by the specified author, and corresponding to a specified webpage being accessed by the computerized device associated with the specified author from a webpage server system, the annotations collection referenced in the received request including one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the specified webpage,
retrieving, from the annotation information repository, the annotations collection referenced in the received request, and
transmitting the retrieved annotations collection to the computerized device to enable the computerized device to concurrently display the transmitted annotations collection and a current instance of the specified webpage, in such a way that the one or more annotations included in the transmitted annotations collection would be overlaid on the corresponding one or more portions of the webpage content of the specified webpage.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the annotation information repository comprises:
a database configured to perform operations comprising storing annotations collections, the storing of each of the plurality of the annotations collections being based on a set of identifiers including a webpage address of the associated webpage and an identifier of the associated annotation author; and
an authentication module configured to perform operations comprising verifying permissions to the plurality of the annotations collections.
11. The system of claim 9, wherein an annotations collection from among of the stored plurality of the annotations collections comprises:
one or more verification records corresponding to the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection, where a verification record from among the one or more verification records includes permissions to and text mapping information associated with an annotation from among the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection to which the verification record corresponds; and
one or more supplementary records corresponding to the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection, where a supplementary record from among the one or more supplementary records includes notes and addresses of cross-referenced webpages associated with an annotation from among the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection to which the supplementary record corresponds.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the text mapping information included in the verification record corresponding to the annotation includes text offsets and a hash mask associated with a portion of the webpage content to which the annotations corresponds.
13. The system of claim 9 wherein the data processor is further configured to perform operations further comprising updating a stored instance of an annotations collection upon receipt from the computerized device of an updated instance of the annotations collection that includes a created or removed annotation corresponding to a portion of webpage content of the current instance of the specified webpage.
14. The system of claim 9 wherein the data processor is configured to perform operations comprising
receiving, from the computerized device, another request to retrieve other annotations collections from among the plurality of annotations collections stored at the annotations information repository, the other annotations collections having been authored by other annotations authors and corresponding to the specified webpage,
retrieving the other multiple annotations collections referenced in the other request, and
transmitting the retrieved other annotations collections to the computerized device to enable the computerized device to concurrently display the transmitted other annotations collections, the previously transmitted annotations collection and the current instance of the specified webpage.
15. The system of claim 9, wherein
a webpage, to which an annotations collection from among the stored annotations collections corresponds, comprises an online textbook,
the webpage server corresponds to an online learning service, and
the one or more annotations of the annotations collection correspond to respective portions of the online textbook.
16. The system of claim 9 further comprising:
a targeted advertisement system configured to communicate with the data processor and with the multiple computerized devices associated with the respective authors of webpage annotations, and further configured to serve ads based on affinities indicated by the respective authors of webpage annotations,
wherein the data processor is further configured to perform operations comprising
instructing the targeted advertisement system to serve ads to the computerized device based on information referenced by the annotations collection transmitted to the computerized device.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the information referenced by the annotations collection transmitted to the computerized device comprises the one or more portions of the webpage content of the specified webpage to which the corresponding one or more annotations included in the transmitted annotations collection relate.
18. The system of claim 9, wherein the data processor is configured to perform operations further comprising
receiving, from the computerized device, another request to retrieve another annotations collection from among the plurality of annotations collections stored at the annotation information repository, the other annotations collection having been authored by another annotations author different from the specified author and corresponding to the specified webpage,
verifying permissions of the specified author to retrieve the other annotations collection using verification information included in the other annotations collection, and
responding to the request of the computerized device based on a result of said verifying the permissions.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein
the data processor is configured to perform operations further comprising
in response to said verifying the permissions,
determining that the specified author has permissions to retrieve a particular annotation from among the one or more annotations of the other annotations collection, and
retrieving the particular annotation of the other annotations collection, and
to perform said responding to the request, the data processor is configured to perform operations further comprising
transmitting, to the computerized device, a response including the retrieved particular annotation of the other annotations collection to enable the computerized device to concurrently display the transmitted particular annotation collection of the other annotations collections, the previously transmitted annotations collection and the current instance of the specified webpage.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein
the data processor is configured to perform operations further comprising
in response to said verifying the permissions,
determining that the specified author lacks permissions to retrieve the other annotations collection, and
to perform said responding to the request, the data processor is configured to perform operations further comprising
transmitting, to the computerized device, a response informing the specified author of said determining that the specified author lacks permissions to retrieve the other annotations collection.
21. A system for annotating webpage content, the system comprising:
a computerized device communicatively coupled with a webpage server under control of a third party and with an annotations repository under control of an entity different from the third party, the computerized device including:
a browser configured to perform first operations comprising, the first operations comprising
receiving, from a user associated with the computerized device, a request to access a webpage being hosted by the webpage server, where the user is other than both the third party and the entity different from the third party,
in response to said receiving from the user the request to access the webpage, requesting the webpage from the webpage server, and

receiving a response from the webpage server including a current instance of the webpage, and

the browser is further configured to perform second operations, the second operations comprising
requesting, from the annotations repository in response to said receiving from the user the request to access the webpage, a collection of annotations made to the webpage by the user associated with the computerized device, the annotations collection being stored at the annotations repository, the annotations collection including one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the webpage,
receiving a response from the annotations repository including the requested annotations collection, and
concurrently displaying the current instance of the webpage received with the response from the webpage server and the annotations collection received with the response from the annotations repository, such that the one or more annotations included in the received annotations collection are overlaid on the corresponding one or more portions of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage.
22. The system of claim 21 wherein the received annotations collection comprises:
one or more verification records corresponding to the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection, where a verification record from among the one or more verification records includes permissions to and text mapping information associated with an annotation from among the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection to which the verification record corresponds; and
one or more supplementary records corresponding to the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection, where a supplementary record from among the one or more supplementary records includes notes and addresses of cross-referenced webpages associated with an annotation from among the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection to which the supplementary record corresponds.
23. The system of claim 22 wherein
the text mapping information included in the verification record corresponding to the annotation includes text offsets and a hash mask associated with a portion of the webpage content to which the annotation corresponds, and
the second operations further comprise
comparing the text offsets and the hash mask, included in the text mapping information included in the verification record corresponding to the annotation, with text properties of a portion of webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage that corresponds to the text offsets included in the text mapping information; and
if the comparison results in a mismatch, determining that the portion of the webpage content of the webpage corresponding to the text offsets included in the text mapping information has been modified by the third party since the annotation was created, and
if the comparison results in a match, determining that the portion of the webpage content of the webpage corresponding to the text offsets included in the text mapping information has not been modified by the third party since the annotation was created.
24. The system of claim 21 wherein the second operations further comprise
receiving, from the user associated with the computerized device, input creating at least one new annotation on the received current instance of the webpage in addition to the one or more annotations included in the received annotations collection, and
transmitting to the annotations repository the annotations collection with the at least one new annotation for updating the stored instance of the annotations collection.
25. The system of claim 21 wherein the second operations further comprise
informing the user associated with the computerized device of one or more additional annotations collections being available at the annotations repository, the one or more additional annotations collections having been authored by corresponding one or more other authors different from the user associated with the computerized device, and being associated with the webpage, each of the one or more additional annotations collections including one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the webpage,
receiving, from the user associated with the computerized device in response to said informing, a request to access an additional annotations collection from among the additional annotations collections,
in response to said receiving, from the user, of the request to access the additional annotations collection, requesting the additional annotations collection from the annotations repository,
receiving a response from the annotations repository including the additional annotations collection, and
concurrently displaying the received current instance of the webpage, the received additional annotations collection and the initially received annotations collection, such that the one or more annotations included in the initially received annotations collection and the one or more annotations included in the received additional annotations collection are overlaid on the corresponding portions of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage.
26. The system of claim 21, wherein
the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection received with the response from the annotations repository comprise two or more annotations, and
the second operations further comprise
in response to determining that a portion of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage, to which an annotation from among the two or more annotations included in the received annotations collection corresponds, has been modified by the third party since the annotation was created,
removing from the received annotations collection the annotation corresponding to the modified portion of the webpage content, and
transmitting, to the annotations repository the annotations collection without the annotation corresponding to the modified portion of the webpage content for updating the stored instance of the annotations collection.
27. The system of claim 21, wherein the computerized device further comprises a browser plug-in, wherein the browser plug-in is configured to perform the second operations.
28. The system of claim 21, wherein
the computerized device further includes a storage device that stores the annotations repository, and
the entity other than the third party that controls the annotations repository is the user associated with the computerized device.
29. The system of claim 21, wherein
the webpage comprises an online textbook,
the webpage server corresponds to an online learning service, and
the one or more annotations of the annotations collection correspond to respective portions of the online textbook.
30. The system of claim 21, wherein
the computerized device is further communicatively coupled with a targeted advertising system associated with the annotations repository,
the second operations further comprise
receiving, from the targeted advertising system, ads related to the one or more portions of the webpage content of the current instance of the webpage, received with the response from the webpage server, that correspond to the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection, received with the response from the annotations repository, and

the first operations further comprise
presenting a set of the received ads to the user associated with computerized device.
31. The system of claim 30, wherein the second operations further comprise
generating the set of the received ads for said presenting to include one or more ads from among the received ads that match the one or more portions of the webpage content of the webpage.
32. The system of claim 21, wherein said concurrently displaying the received current instance of the webpage and the received annotations collection comprises second operations further comprising
in response to determining that a portion of the webpage content of the webpage, to which an annotation from among the one or more annotations included in the received annotations collection corresponds, has not been modified by the third party since the annotation was created,
highlighting a text block from a portion of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage to which the annotation corresponds.
33. The system of claim 32, wherein the second operations further comprise
detecting a cursor being hovered by the user associated with the computerized device over the highlighted text block, and
displaying, in response to said detecting of the hovering cursor, supplementary information associated with the annotation corresponding to the highlighted text block, including an address of a cross-referenced webpage.
34. The system of claim 33, wherein the second operations further comprise
receiving, from the user associated with the computerized device, a request seeking access to the cross-referenced webpage.
35. The system of claim 21, wherein the second operations further comprise
receiving, from the user associated with the computerized device, input indicating a portion of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage;
recording, as part of a new annotation corresponding to the indicated portion of the webpage content, verification information referencing the indicated portion of the webpage content;
receiving, from the user associated with the computerized device, input providing supplementary information associated with the indicated portion of the webpage content, the supplementary information including notes and addresses of cross-referenced webpages;
recording, as part of the new annotation, the provided supplementary information; and
transmitting, to the annotations repository, the new annotation corresponding to the indicated portion of the webpage content to be included in the stored instance of the annotations collection.
36. The system of claim 35, wherein
the input indicating the portion of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage comprises input highlighting a text block of the received current instance of the webpage, and
the verification information referencing the indicated portion of the webpage content comprises text offsets and a hash mask of the highlighted text block.
37. The system of claim 21, wherein the second operations further comprise
receiving, from the user associated with the computerized device, input editing at least one annotation from among the one or more annotations of the received annotations collection overlaid on the received current instance of the webpage, and
transmitting, to the annotations repository, the annotations collection with the at least one edited annotation for updating the stored instance of the annotations collection.
38. The system of claim 21, wherein
the one or more annotations included in the annotations collection received with the response from the annotations repository comprise two or more annotations, and
the second operations further comprise
receiving, from the user associated with the computerized device, input removing an annotation from among the two or more annotations of the received annotations collection overlaid on the received current instance of the webpage, and
transmitting, to the annotations repository, the annotations collection with the removed annotation for updating the stored instance of the annotations collection.
39. The system of claim 21, wherein
the computerized device is further communicatively coupled with a second annotations repository under control of a second entity different from the third party, and
the second operations further comprise
informing the user associated with the computerized device of a second annotations collection being available at the second annotations repository, the second annotations collection having been authored by a second author different from the user associated with the computerized device, and being associated with the webpage, the second annotations collection including one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the webpage,
receiving, from the user associated with the computerized device in response to said informing, a request to access the second annotations collection,
in response to said receiving, from the user, of the request to access the second collection, requesting the second annotations collection from the second annotations repository,
receiving a response from the second annotations repository including the second annotations collection, and
concurrently displaying the current instance of the webpage received from the webpage server, the second annotations collection received from the second annotations repository and the annotations collection received from the annotations repository, such that the one or more annotations included in the initially received annotations collection and the one or more annotations included in the received second annotations collection are overlaid on the corresponding portions of the webpage content of the received current instance of the webpage.
40. A method comprising:
maintaining at an annotations repository system a plurality of annotations collections, each of the plurality of the annotations collections having been authored by an associated annotations author and corresponding to an associated webpage, such that each of the plurality of the annotations collections includes one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the associated webpage;
receiving, by the annotations repository system from an electronic device associated with a specified author, a request to retrieve an annotations collection from among the maintained plurality of annotations collections, the annotations collection referenced in the received request having been authored by the specified author, and corresponding to a specified webpage being accessed by the electronic device associated with the specified author from a webpage server system different from the annotations repository system, the annotations collection referenced in the received request including one or more annotations relating to corresponding one or more portions of webpage content of the specified webpage;
retrieving, by the annotations repository system, the annotations collection referenced in the received request from among the maintained plurality of annotations collections; and
transmitting, by the annotations repository system, the retrieved annotations collection to the electronic device to enable the electronic device to concurrently display the transmitted annotations collection and a current instance of the specified webpage, in such a way that the one or more annotations included in the transmitted annotations collection would be overlaid on the corresponding one or more portions of the webpage content of the specified webpage.
41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:
receiving, by the annotations repository system from the electronic device, another request to retrieve other annotations collections from among the plurality of annotations collections maintained at the annotations repository system, the other annotations collections having been authored by other annotations collections authors and corresponding to the specified webpage;
retrieving the other annotations collections referenced in the other request; and
transmitting the retrieved other annotations collections to the electronic device to enable the electronic device to concurrently display the transmitted other annotations collections, the previously transmitted annotations collection and the current instance of the specified webpage.
42. The method of claim 40, further comprising updating a stored instance of an annotations collection from among the plurality of annotations collections maintained at the annotations repository system upon receipt from the electronic device of an updated instance of the annotations collection that includes a created or removed annotation corresponding to a portion of webpage content of the current instance of the specified webpage.

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. A probe for measuring the total pressure of an airflow, the probe being intended to equip an aircraft, the probe comprising a Pitot tube, two separate heating wires heated separately, allowing each one to heat a part of the probe, and means of distributing a given maximum power to each one of the two heating wires as a function of the current temperature of each of the two parts.
2. The probe according to claim 1, comprising fixing means designed to fix the probe to the skin of the aircraft and a mast connecting the Pitot tube to the fixing means and the first of the two heating wires being intended to heat the Pitot tube forming the first of the two parts and the second of the two heating wires being intended to heat the mast forming the second of the two parts.
3. The probe according to claim 1, the probe being intended to be supplied by means of an AC voltage and the distribution means being arranged to alternately distribute the total available power to each of the heating wires during a number of complete alternations of the AC voltage for each of the heating wires, a ratio between the number of alternations of each of the heating wires being defined in order to obtain a desired power distribution.
4. The probe according to claim 3, the heating wires the heating wires being formed by a resistance that varies with its temperature and the current temperature of each one of the two parts being defined by supplying the two heating wires simultaneously in parallel with the AC voltage during at least one complete alternation and by measuring the value of the current flowing in each one of the heating wires during the simultaneous supplying.
5. The probe according to claim 1, comprising a converter delivering a DC voltage and supplying the heating wires by the intermediary of switches, a switch being associated with each of the heating wires, and the distribution means being arranged to control the switches as a function of a desired power distribution.
6. The probe according to claim 1, comprising, associated with each one of the heating wires, a converter delivering a DC voltage supplying the associated heating wire, and the distribution means being arranged to control the converters as a function of a desired power distribution.
7. A method of using a probe according to claim 1, consisting in priority being given to the reaching of a predefined minimum temperature of a first one of the two parts of the probe by allocating to the first part of the probe a predefined share of the given maximum power for as long as the current temperature of the first part is lower than the predefined minimum temperature.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein as soon as the first part of the probe has reached the predefined minimum temperature of the first part, the distribution means allocate to the first part a variable share of the given maximum power adapted to maintain the first part at its predefined minimum temperature and allocate to a second of the two parts of the probe the rest of the maximum available power.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein as soon as the second part has reached a predefined minimum temperature of the second part, the distribution means proportionally allocate the maximum available power to the two parts of the probe.
10. The method according to claim 9, the heating wires being formed by a resistor that varies with its temperature and consisting in maintaining constant a ratio between the values of resistance of the heating wires for the proportional allocation of the maximum available power to the two parts of the probe.
11. The method according to claim 7, an alarm being triggered to warn that the first part of the probe has not reached a critical temperature.

1. A plant propagation and display tray, which is capable of interlocking alignment with at least one other tray and which is capable of receiving and holding at least one plant pot, comprises:
a back wall and a bottom ledge forwardly projecting from said back wall;
said ledge being inclined towards the back wall and comprising a plurality of alternating projections and troughs, each of said troughs inclining towards a trough point of abutment with the back wall and being of a conformation to securably hold one plant pot such that an open proximal end of the plant pot is exposed to view and a distal end of the plant pot is adjacent to the back wall;
each of said projections having an upper surface which inclines towards a projection point of abutment with the back wall, wherein the projection point of abutment is higher than the trough point of abutment with the back wall;
wherein said tray is capable of being attached to a wall surface by said back wall, which back wall is abuttable against a wall surface.
2. The tray of claim 1, wherein the ledge comprises walls at each end.
3. The tray of claim 1, wherein the back wall, on one side, comprises a substantially flat upper portion and a lower portion, adjacent the ledge, which is thicker than the upper portion and which is defined by a plurality of substantially V-shaped depressions, each of which points towards a trough on the ledge, and wherein the back wall, on the other side, is defined by a flat surface for alignment with a wall surface, when the tray is in use.
4. The tray of claim 1, which includes an irrigation line.
5. The tray of claim 1, which includes a drainage line for egress of water to a second tray below said tray when in aligned arrangement on a wall surface.
6. The tray of claim 1, which is shaped for nestable stacking with a plurality of plant trays.
7. The tray of claim 1, which comprises, on an upper edge of the back wall, a means for spaceable interconnection with an opposite means of interconnection on a lower edge of a back wall of a second tray which may be placed above said tray on a wall surface.
8. The tray of claim 7, wherein the means for spaceable interconnection includes a female member on the upper edge of the back wall and a male member on the lower edge of the back wall of the second tray wherein the interconnection of the female member of the tray and the male member of the second tray allow exact alignment of the trays on the wall and define a desired spacing between the trays.
9. The tray of claim 1, which comprises a mounting device for coupling said tray to a wall surface.
10. The tray of claim 1, wherein the wall surface is part of a wall cabinet.
11. The tray of claim 1, wherein the wall surface comprises part of a built-in wall unit.
12. A planter wall formed of a plurality of interlocking trays as described in claim 1, one above another, and attached to a wall surface.
13. The planter wall of claim 12, which forms part of a wall cabinet.
14. The planter wall of claim 12, which forms part of a built-in wall unit.
15. The planter wall of claim 12, further comprising a utility control system for the provision of at least one utility to the trays.
16. The planter wall of claim 12, further comprising at least one utility is selected from the group consisting of a heating line, electrical wire, a misting water supply line and combinations thereof.
17. The tray of claim 1, further comprising a second tray with a back wall having a lower edge, said tray being a first tray, said back wall of said first tray having an upper edge and having, on said upper edge, a means for spaceable interconnection with an opposite means of interconnection on said lower edge of said back wall of said second tray, said second tray being operable to be placed above said first tray on a wall surface.
18. The tray of claim 17, wherein:
the means for spaceable interconnection includes a female member on said upper edge of said back wall and a male member on said lower edge of said back wall of said second tray; and
the interconnection of the female member of said first tray and the male member of said second tray allow exact alignment of the first and second trays on the wall and define a desired spacing between the first and second trays.
19. The tray of claim 1, further comprising a second tray with a back wall having a lower edge, said tray being a first tray, said back wall of said first tray having an upper edge and having, on said upper edge, a spaced interconnection device having an opposing interconnection device on said lower edge of said back wall of said second tray, said second tray being operable to be placed above said first tray on a wall surface.
20. The tray of claim 19, wherein:
the spaced interconnection device includes a female member on said upper edge of said back wall and a male member on said lower edge of said back wall of said second tray; and
the interconnection of the female member of said first tray and the male member of said second tray allow exact alignment of the first and second trays on the wall and define a desired spacing between the first and second trays.
21. The tray of claim 1 wherein the back wall comprises a relatively thicker part to increase overall strength and weight bearing ability of the tray.

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. A catheter assembly comprising:
a hollow sheath having a proximal portion and a tip;
an elongate operative element slidably and rotatably housed within the sheath, the operative element comprising a distal end and a proximal end;
the elongate operative element comprising a relatively stiff, self-supporting initial section at the proximal end thereof; and
a combined connector secured to the proximal end of the operative element, said combined connector comprising a datainformation connector and a mechanical connector.
2-33. (Canceled)
34. The catheter assembly of claim 1, wherein the combined connector is movable with the elongate operative element along a linear path within the hollow sheath.
35. The catheter assembly of claim 1, wherein the combined connector is rotatable.
36. A catheter assembly comprising:
a hollow sheath having a proximal portion and a tip;
an elongate operative element housed within the sheath, the elongate operative element slidable along a longitudinal line within the hollow sheath and rotatable within the hollow sheath; and
a rotatable connector secured to the proximal end of the operative element, the rotatable connector movable along the longitudinal line with the elongate operative element.
37. The catheter assembly of claim 36, wherein the rotatable connector comprises an electrical connector to provide for the transfer of information from the operative element.
38. The catheter assembly of claim 36, wherein the elongate operative element comprises a rotatable imaging core.
39. The catheter assembly of claim 36, wherein the elongate operative element comprises a cable having an image element at the distal end.
40. The catheter assembly of claim 36, wherein the rotatable connector includes an angled rotary alignment surface configured to mate with a corresponding connector of a drive unit.
41. A catheter system comprising:
a drive assembly including:
a body;
a drive chassis movably mounted within the body for movement along a linear path;
a longitudinal driver coupled with the drive chassis, to move the drive chassis along the linear path;
a rotary driver mounted to the drive chassis and movement therewith along the linear path; and
a first connector rotatable by the rotary driver and moveable along the linear path; and

a catheter assembly including:
a hollow sheath having a proximal portion and a tip;
an elongate operative element housed within the sheath, the elongate operative element slidable along the linear path within the hollow sheath and rotatable within the hollow sheath; and
a rotatable connector secured to the proximal end of the operative element and removably matable with the first connector.
42. The catheter system of claim 41, wherein the hollow sheath further includes a hub at the proximal portion housing the rotatable connector.
43. The catheter system of claim 42, wherein the elongate operative element further comprises a relatively stiff initial section extending distally from the hub.
44. The catheter system of claim 41, wherein the rotatable connector includes an electrical connector to provide for the transfer of information from the operative element to the drive assembly.
45. The catheter system of claim 41, wherein the first connector and the rotatable connector are configured to be blind matable.
46. The catheter system of claim 41, wherein the first connector and the rotatable connector comprise rotary alignment surfaces which engage when the first connector and the rotatable connector are mated together.