All The Claims

1-19. (canceled)
20. An image generating system for allowing an observer to manipulate a virtual object, comprising image pickup means for capturing an image of a physical work space, virtual space image generating means for generating an image of a virtual space comprising the virtual object, composite image generating means for generating a composite image by synthesising the image of the virtual space generated by the virtual space image generating means and the image of the physical work space outputted by the image pickup means, display means for displaying the composite image generated by the composite image generating means, a manipulator for manipulating the virtual object by the observer, and manipulator pose determining means for determining the pose of the manipulator in the physical work space, characterised in that the system is configured to transform a change in the pose of the manipulator in the physical work space as determined by the manipulator pose determining means into a change in the pose andor status of the virtual object in the virtual space, wherein the pose of the manipulator in the physical work space is wholly or partly determined from the image of the physical work space outputted by the image pickup means, and wherein the manipulator comprises a recognition member and wherein the recognition member is recognised in the image of the physical work space by an image recognition algorithm, and wherein the appearance of the recognition member in the image of the physical work space is a function of the pose of the recognition member relative to the image pickup means.
21. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein the pose of the manipulator in the physical work space is at least partly determined by measuring acceleration exerted on the manipulator by gravitational forces andor by observer-generated movement of the manipulator.
22. The image generating system according to claim 21, wherein the manipulator comprises an accelerometer.
23. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein the manipulator is connected to an n-degrees of freedom articulated device.
24. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein a change in the pose of the manipulator in the physical work space causes a qualitatively, and preferably also quantitatively, identical change in the pose of the virtual object in the virtual space.
25. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein a virtual cursor is generated in the image of the virtual space, such that the virtual cursor becomes superposed onto the image of the manipulator in the physical work space outputted by the image pickup means.
26. The image generating system according to claim 20, which is mountable on a standard working area such as a desktop.
27. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein the image pickup means is configured to capture the image of the physical work space substantially at an eye position and in the direction of the sight of the observer and the virtual space image generating means is configured to generate the image of the virtual space substantially at the eye position and in the direction of the sight of the observer.
28. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein the image pickup means is configured such that during a session of operating the system the location and extent of the physical work space does not substantially change.
29. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein the display means is configured such that during a session of operating the system the position and orientation of the display means does not substantially change.
30. The image generating system according to claim 20 configured to provide a stereoscopic view of the physical work space andor the virtual space, preferably both.
31. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein the system is adapted for network applications to accommodate more than one observer.
32. The image generating system according to claim 20, wherein the physical work space captured by the image pickup means is remote from the observer.
33. An image generating method for allowing an observer to manipulate a virtual object, configured to be carried out using the image generating system as defined in claim 20, the method comprising the steps of obtaining an image of a physical work space, generating an image of a virtual space comprising the virtual object, generating a composite image by synthesising the image of the virtual space and the image of the physical work space, and determining the pose of a manipulator in the physical work space, characterised in that a change in the pose of the manipulator in the physical work space is transformed into a change in the pose andor status of the virtual object in the virtual space.
34. A program and a computer-readable storage medium storing said program, wherein the program is configured to execute an image generating method for allowing an observer to manipulate a virtual object, configured to be carried out using the image generating system as defined in claim 20, the method comprising the steps of obtaining an image of a physical work space, generating an image of a virtual space comprising the virtual object, generating a composite image by synthesising the image of the virtual space and the image of the physical work space, and determining the pose of a manipulator in the physical work space, characterised in that a change in the pose of the manipulator in the physical work space is transformed into a change in the pose andor status of the virtual object in the virtual space.
35. A method of using the system as defined in claim 20, for visualisation, manipulation and analysis of virtual representations of objects or for data analysis.
36. A method of using the system as defined in claim 20, in medicine, drug discovery and development, protein structure discovery, structural science, materials science, materials engineering, prospecting, product design and development, engineering, architecture, nanotechnology, bionanotechnology, electronic circuits design and development, teleoperations, simulation of extraterrestrial environments or conditions, sales and other presentations and demonstrations, systems biology, finance, economy, entertainment or gaming.
37. A method of using the program or medium storing said program as defined in claim 34, for visualisation, manipulation and analysis of virtual representations of objects or for data analysis.
38. A method of using the program or medium storing said program as defined in claim 34, in medicine, drug discovery and development, protein structure discovery, structural science, materials science, materials engineering, prospecting, product design and development, engineering, architecture, nanotechnology, bionanotechnology, electronic circuits design and development, teleoperations, simulation of extraterrestrial environments or conditions, sales and other presentations and demonstrations, systems biology, finance, economy, entertainment or gaming.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

We claim:

1. A safety connector system which permits the transfer of fluid from a first conduit to a second conduit, said first conduit having a hollow tube at an end thereof, said second conduit having a resilient, resealable septum at an end thereof, comprising:
a generally flat outer surface at the end of said second conduit;
said septum adapted to allow said hollow tube to penetrate said septum and adapted to reseal when said tube is removed from said septum;
a locking mechanism for locking said first conduit to said second conduit;
said first conduit and said second conduit capable of transferring a fluid between said first conduit and said second conduit when said first conduit is locked to said second conduit; and
said first conduit and said second conduit capable of being disengaged after said first conduit is locked to said second conduit.
2. The connector system of claim 1, wherein said first conduit and said second conduit are capable of penetrating, locking, transferring fluid, and disengaging at least two times.
3. The connector system of claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism comprises complementary threads on said first conduit and second conduit for engaging said first conduit to said second conduit.
4. The connector system of claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism comprises at least one lever arm for engaging said first conduit to said second conduit.
5. The connector system of claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism is capable of locking said first conduit to said second conduit without relative rotation of said first conduit with respect to said second conduit.
6. The connector system of claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism comprises a pin on said first conduit for insertion into a slot in said second conduit.
7. The connector system of claim 1, wherein said hollow tube is disposed within a guard housing which substantially surrounds said hollow tube.
8. The connector system of claim 7, wherein said end of said second conduit is capable of being guided inside said guard housing of said first conduit such that said hollow tube penetrates said septum.
9. A safety connector system for safely administering medication intravenously to a patient comprising:
a cap member having a cavity therein;
a port element having a first end and a second end, said first end having a seal extending thereacross and presenting a generally flat outer surface for insertion into said cap member;
a piercing element contained in said cavity for penetrating said generally flat outer surface of said seal;
a first locking element on said cap member for engaging a second locking element on said port element for removably securing said port element to said cap member; and
said seal capable of resealing said first end of said port element when said piercing element in removed from said seal.
10. The safety connector system of claim 9, wherein said second locking element on said port element comprises a lip for locking said first locking element of said cap member with respect to said lip.
11. The safety connector system of claim 10, wherein said port element and said cap member are adapted to be removabley secured to each other without relative rotation of said cap member with respect to said port element.
12. The safety connector system of claim 9, wherein said cap member is capable of being engaged to said port element by rotating said cap member with respect to said port element.
13. The safety connector system of claim 12, wherein said cap member further comprises a J-type slot having an entryway and a base.
14. The safety connector system of claim 13, wherein said second locking element of said port element comprises a pin for engaging said entryway of said J-type slot and sliding along said slot until said pin reaches said base.
15. A safety connector system for administering medication intravenously to a patient, comprising:
a port element having a first end and a second end, said port element having a seal located at the first end and having a generally flat outer surface, said second end being in fluid communication with the patient;
a cap member having a locking element thereon for locking and engaging with said port element;
said first end of said port element adapted to be inserted into a cavity of said cap member;
said seal of said first end of said port element adapted to be penetrated by said cap member such that said first end of said port element is placed in fluid communication with said cap member;
said locking element adapted to detachably lock said cap member and said port element by engaging said locking element on said cap member such that said first end of said port element is secured within said cavity of said cap member; and
said first end of said port adapted to seal with said seal upon disengagement of said cap member and said port element.
16. The safety connector system of claim 15, wherein said port element comprises a lip for locking said locking element of said cap member with respect to said lip.
17. The safety connector system of claim 15, wherein said locking element is capable of detachably locking said cap member to said port element without relative rotation of said cap member with respect to said port element.
18. The safety connector system of claim 15, wherein said locking element is adapted to detachably lock said cap to said port element by rotating said cap member with respect to said port element.
19. The safety connector system of claim 18, wherein said locking element of said cap member comprises a J-type slot having an entryway and a base.
20. The safety connector system of claim 19, wherein said port element comprises a pin for engaging said entryway of said J-type slot and sliding along said slot until said pin reaches said base.

1. A method for enabling safearm functionality in a gravity dropped weapon, the method comprising:
attaching the weapon to a releasable rack attached to an airframe;
providing a generator, having an elastic element, in the weapon such that a first portion of the generator is attached to the weapon and a second portion of the generator is attached to the releasable rack;
preloading the elastic element to store potential energy therein;
releasing the weapon from the rack to separate the first and second portions and to thereby release the stored energy in the elastic element such that the elastic element vibrates;
converting the vibration of the elastic element to an electrical energy; and
providing the electrical energy to one or more components in the weapon.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the releasing comprises sliding the weapon relative to the rack.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the elastic element is a spring.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the converting comprises attaching an end of the spring to a piezoelectric member, wherein the vibration exerts a pushing and pulling on the piezoelectric member to generate the electrical energy.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the spring further includes a mass at another end for facilitating the vibration of the spring.

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 tuneable bandpass filter comprising a plurality of coupled resonators, the tuneable bandpass filter comprising:
a common structure comprising at least one common coupling or one common resonator;
an upper loop comprising first and second end resonators coupled together by a signal path, the upper loop further comprising at least one further signal path extending between the first and second end resonators of the upper loop, the at least one further signal path of the upper loop comprising at least one further resonator, the first and second end resonators of the upper loop being directly coupled to the common structure;
a lower loop comprising first and second end resonators coupled together by a signal path, the lower loop further comprising at least one further signal path extending between the first and second end resonators of the lower loop, the at least one further signal path of the lower loop comprising at least one further resonator, the first and second end resonators of the lower loop being directly coupled to the common structure;
the resonators being coupled together such that the tuneable bandpass filter is divided into a low pass sub filter and a high pass sub filter, one of the low pass and high pass sub filters being arranged to receive an output of the other.
2. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the common structure comprises a single common resonator, the first and second end resonators of the upper and lower loops being connected to the common resonator.
3. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the low pass sub filter comprises the common resonator and the resonators of the lower loop.
4. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the high pass sub filter comprises the common resonator and the resonators of the upper loop.
5. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one common coupling comprises a plurality of common couplings coupled between the upper and lower loops.
6. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 5, wherein the plurality of common couplings are arranged such that each of the first and second end resonators of one of the upper and lower loops is coupled to both of the first and second end resonators of the other loop.
7. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper loop comprises an even number of resonators.
8. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper loop comprises an odd number of resonators.
9. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower loop comprises an even number of resonators.
10. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower loop comprises an odd number of resonators.
11. The tuneable bandpass filter a claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one further resonator of the upper andor the lower loop is further defined as a plurality of further resonators coupled together.
12. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 11, wherein at least the at least one further resonator of the upper andor lower loops is further defined as a plurality of further resonators coupled together in cascade such that there are a plurality of signal paths between the first and second end resonators.
13. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 12, wherein at least some of the plurality of further resonators are coupled together in a cross coupled ladder configuration.
14. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 13, wherein at least some of the plurality of further resonators in the cross coupled ladder configuration further comprise at least one diagonal cross coupling to a resonator of the at least some of the plurality of further resonators on an adjacent cross coupled ladder rung.
15. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a non-resonant input circuit node coupled to one of the first and second end resonators of one of the upper and lower loops.
16. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 15, further comprising a group delay equalisation network further coupled between the non-resonant input circuit node and the one of the first and second end resonators connected thereto.
17. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 15, further comprising an output circuit node coupled to one of the first and second end resonators of the other of the upper and lower loops.
18. The tuneable bandpass filter as claimed in claim 17, further comprising a group delay equalisation network connected between the output circuit node and the one of the first and second end resonators connected thereto.