In this section, the following term is used with the meaning indicated:
"variable" (as a noun) means a feature or property (e.g., a dimension, a physical condition such as temperature, a quality such as density or colour) which, in respect of a particular entity (e.g., an object, a quantity of a substance, a beam of light) and at a particular instant, is capable of being measured; the variable may change, so that its numerical expression may assume different values at different times, in different conditions or in individual cases, but may be constant in respect of a particular entity in certain conditions or for practical purposes (e.g., the length of a bar may be regarded as constant for many purposes).
Attention is drawn to the definitions of terms or expressions used, appearing in the notes of several of the classes in this section, in particular those of "measuring" in class Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G01 and "control" and "regulation" in class Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G05.
Classification in this section may present more difficulty than in other sections, because the distinction between different fields of use rests to a considerable extent on differences in the intention of the user rather than on any constructional differences or differences in the manner of use, and because the subjects dealt with are often in effect systems or combinations, which have features or parts in common, rather than "things", which are readily distinguishable as a whole. For example, information (e.g., a set of figures) may be displayed for the purpose of education or advertising (Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G09), for enabling the result of a measurement to be known (Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G01), for signalling the information to a distant point or for giving information which has been signalled from a distant point (Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G08). The words used to describe the purpose depend on features that may be irrelevant to the form of the apparatus concerned, for example, such features as the desired effect on the person who sees the display, or whether the display is controlled from a remote point. Again, a device which responds to some change in a condition, e.g., in the pressure of a fluid, may be used, without modification of the device itself, to give information about the pressure (Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G01L) or about some other condition linked to the pressure (another subclass of class Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G01, e.g., Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G01K for temperature), to make a record of the pressure or of its occurrence (Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G07C), to give an alarm (Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G08B), or to control another apparatus (Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G05).
The classification scheme is intended to enable things of a similar nature (as indicated above) to be classified together. It is therefore particularly necessary for the real nature of any technical subject to be decided before it can be properly classified.
DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS, THE OPTICAL OPERATION OF WHICH IS MODIFIED BY CHANGING THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIUM OF THE DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF THE INTENSITY, COLOUR, PHASE, POLARISATION OR DIRECTION OF LIGHT, e.g. SWITCHING, GATING, MODULATING OR DEMODULATING; TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES FOR THE OPERATION THEREOF; FREQUENCY-CHANGING; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS (optical transfer means between sensing member and indicating or recording part in connection with measuring Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G01D 5/26; devices in which mathematical operations are carried out with optical elements Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G06E 3/00; electrical signal transmission systems using optical means to convert the input signal Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G08C 19/36; information-recording by electric or magnetic means and reproducing by sensing optical properties Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G11B 11/00; static stores using optical elements Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G11C 13/04; transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. light, infra-red radiation, Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...H04B 10/00; optical multiplex systems Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...H04J 14/00; pictorial communication, e.g. television Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...H04N) [2,4]
devices or arrangements, e.g. cells, the optical operation of which is modified by changing the optical properties of the medium of the devices or arrangements by the influence or control of physical parameters, e.g. electric fields, electric current, magnetic fields, sound or mechanical vibrations, stress or thermal effects; [2]
devices or arrangements in which the electric or magnetic field component of the light beams influences the optical properties of the medium, i.e. non-linear optics; [2]
control of light by electromagnetic waves, e.g. radio waves, or by electrons or other elementary particles. [2]
for the control of the position or the direction of light beams, i.e. deflection (static stores with electric or magnetic read-in and optical read-out Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...G11C; lasers provided with means to change the location from which, or the direction in which, laser radiation is emitted Fulltext... Hierarchy... Expanded...H01S 3/101) [4]