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The invention pertains to the field of motion damping devices used with submerged marine instrumentation for damping instrumentation movement and displacement due to wave and water motion. In underwater transducer and hydrophone installations, such as in a sonobuoy system for detecting submarine sounds and the like, the provision of a substantially stable platform for the hydrophone is of prime importance in order to reduce extraneous noises and signals and permit the most accurate sound pressure wave input characteristics. The purpose of sonobuoy suspension systems is to attenuate the vertical motion imparted by surface wave action to a hydrophone platform as motion of the hydrophone due to surface wave action will result in the generation of spurious low frequency signals. The attenuation system itself must not produce low frequency lateral motion oscillation such as those commonly found in objects suspended in ocean currents resulting from periodic shedding of vortices in the flowing fluid. In a free floating sonobuoy system it is also important that a high drag concentration in the vicinity of the hydrophone platform be produced to reduce the relative velocity of the flow past the hydrophone to minimize the magnitude of any occurring flow noise as well as reducing the frequency of the noise associated with boundry layer transition on the hydrophone surfaces. Additionally, the magnitude and frequency of any unavoidable motion associated with vortex shedding is simultaneously reduced. Improved transducer suspension systems have been achieved by the utilization of complaint members such as shown in the assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,615. Additionally, the utilization of specialized configurations in floating and buoy systems for stabilization purposes are known as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,191,202, 3,500,783, 3,510,892 and 3,543,228. However, a damper assembly for use with submerged hydrophone assemblies wherein a mass damper of an effective construction capable of being concisely stored has not been previously successfully achieved.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a device designed to improve a golfer's grip on a golf club, and more particularly, to a device to assist a golfer in maintaining the proper position of the fingers of one hand with respect to the other hand on the club during the entire swing of the golf club. 2. Description of the Prior Art From the prior art, a number of glove configurations and other devices are known for improving a player's grip on a golf club or to assure the proper positioning of the player's hands on the golf club. Such include gloves with special attachments for holding a player's fingers in position with respect to the palm of the hand, and gloves having straps adapted to fit around a golf club or to fit around the thumb of a player's opposite hand. One prior art device comprises a two-handed glove to force the two hands of a player to remain in a fixed position relative to each other. As is well-known, a golfer adjusts his grip on the golf club and aligns the head of the golf club with the ball, while holding the club in front of himself. In aligning the head of the club with the ball, the player turns the club such that the face of the club's head is at the proper angle relative to the ball. It has become apparent, however, that during the swing, a player has a tendency to twist the club somewhat changing the carefully adjusted angle of the head relative to the ball. While a player may have a firm grip on the club while starting the back swing, as for example in an overlapping grip, there is a tendency for the fingers of the right hand of a right-handed player to move away from the fingers of the left and just prior to beginning the down swing in preparation for hitting the ball. Such loosening of the grip has a tendency to cause the club to twist, causing a change in the angle of the face of the club's head when it comes in contact with the ball. Prior art gloves which are directed to maintaining a strong grip by means of the left hand do not aid in maintaining a proper position of the fingers of the right hand on the club. Certain prior art devices such as the two-handed glove mentioned above, or another known device consisting of a relatively thin sheet of flexible material which fits around the glove and having holes through which fingers of both hands are extended, are intended to fix the position of the fingers of both hands. They are, at best, awkward to use or difficult to manufacture, or both.

This invention relates to juvenile furniture hardware. It relates more particularly to an improved leg lock for a crib, playpen or other height adjustable enclosure. There is a growing awareness of the need to make juvenile furniture even safer for children. In the specific case of height-adjustable cribs and pens, considerable attention is being paid to making the crib less subject to being collapsed accidentally. Some prior crib leg locks comprise a spring loaded pin mounted on a strap connected to the crib corner post and arranged to engage in openings in the extensible leg. When the pin is retracted the leg is free to move. These spring loaded locks are disadvantageous because they can be released by the child in the crib. Other cribs avoid this problem by securing the extensible leg to the corner post by passing a bolt through the corner post and leg and turning down a wingnut or threaded knob on the bolt to prevent the two from moving. In some cases, the bolt opening through the extensible leg is an elongated slot so that it is only necessary to loosen the nut in order to move the leg. In other instances, the bolt has to be completely removed in order to reposition the leg. These prior constructions are not entirely satisfactory because in the former instance the crib is subject to accidental collapse if the nut should loosen, while in the latter case it takes a considerable amount of time and trouble to readjust the height of the crib.

This invention relates to an assembly usable as a boat or as an accessory with sailboats and powerboats and may be employed for many purposes to add to the comfort, convenience and safety of the boating public. The assembly may also be used as a vehicle on land or ice. It is known in the prior art to use the weight of water as a counterbalance or ballast in a sailboat. Furthermore, there are many different types of accessories which may be employed for different uses. For example, liquid storage tanks, portable showers, pontoons, lifting mechanisms, sea anchors and pitch and roll stabilizers are all available in the prior art. A boatsman who wishes to have the benefits of all these accessories must necessarily have the storage room available on board his boat. The presence of all these different types of accessories creates an obvious problem aboard whether the boat is at dock or underway. Therefore, it is likely that some of these items would not be placed on board by the boatsman. Consequently, it is very likely that safety risks would not be mitigated in any way and that some inconveniences would be suffered by the boatsman. Where a boat is anchored offshore, it is necessary to have some sort of dinghy so that the boatsman may get back and forth between the shore and his boat. Until now, it was necessary for the boatsman to purchase an additional small boat which must be either placed on board or left anchored at the offshore location. When left at the offshore location, there is obviously no further use that may be attributed to such an accessory. Finally, there is a marked increase in the number of people who are water sport enthusiasts. Consequently, there are many unskilled people participating in activities in this area. They are demanding equipment which will provide them both with fun and relaxation without their being exposed to a high safety risk. In addition, it is human nature to tire quickly of performing the same kind of activity again and again. In other words, people maintain their interest in certain activities when there is a variety of experiences opened to them. For example, the prior art now provides inflatable boats on which a motor or a sail may be placed for movement. Collapsible catamaran assemblies are available. Collapsible pontoon structures which may be inflated on location are also available in the prior art. These prior art structures provide a means for the consumer to have a fairly small investment and provide him with a highly transportable device for enjoying his water sports. However, each of these prior art assemblies provides only one type of activity. Until now, no construction has been available wherein the recreational enthusiast may also perform several different functions by effecting a simple mechanical manipulation thereto.

This invention relates to automobile washing apparatuses and in particular to the means for automatically conveying an automobile through the apparatus. One of the problem areas with automatic washing of automobiles is the thorough cleaning of the wheels and it has become the practice to spin the wheels at a rate more rapid than that related to the travel of the automobile to assure that there is a full circumferential washing of the wheel. As the wheel is spinning, a brush is placed into contact with the wheel and appropriate solvent is introduced at the scrubbing area and thus the entire wheel is washed. When the wheel is being washed and rotated at a rapid rate, the apparatus which is used to urge a car through the washing mechanism is temporarily disengaged or the chain carrying the auto contacting mechanism must be momentarily halted. It becomes obvious that to halt the chain or to disengage the driving mechanism for any reason causes the overall washing operation to move at a slower pace, thus greatly decreasing the potential profit by lowering the per hour capacity of the washing mechanism. With the above noted problems in mind, it is desirable to have a conveyor system wherein the automobile is continuously engaged by the conveyor mechanism throughout the entire washing operation and the automobile passes through all of the various stations at the washer apparatus at a constant rate. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a conveyor mechanism which is adapted to continuously urge an automobile through automatic washing apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to provide an automobile conveyor in conjunction with a wheel spinner whereby the conveyor continuously urges the automobile through the wheel spinning apparatus and is adapted to flex passing beneath and providing sufficient clearance for the driving mechanism for the wheel spinning apparatus. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a dog or pusher means for use on a conveyor chain incorporated in an automobile washing apparatus, the dog means normally rides in a position adjacent its carrying chains, below the automobile supporting surface but is selectively moved to a position whereat it extends above the automobile and urges the automobile through the washing apparatus. A further object of the present invention is to provide a wheel washing apparatus for use in conjunction with an automatic automobile washing mechanism wherein the wheel washing apparatus is adapted to automatically accommodate automobiles having different wheel widths.

This invention relates generally to removable attachments for paintbrushes, and more particularly to an attachment device for use on a paintbrush to assist in forming straight uniform edges at the interface of intersecting surfaces and allow application of paint to the intended surface while preventing unintentional smearing of paint of the other surface, commonly referred to as "cutting-in." This operation of "cutting-in," i.e., painting up to the edge of one surface where it intersects with the edge of another surface without smearing paint and still obtaining a straight even edge is one of the more difficult techniques, especially for amateur, or do-it-yourself painters. Good smooth mating surfaces which are straight and which are free of smeared paint present a very pleasing appearance and add greatly to the attractiveness of any paint job. These surfaces often are where a ceiling meets the walls with the ceiling and walls being painted a different color, thus requiring a good straight even interface. There have been many different prior art proposals for devices which are adapted to be applied to or used in conjunction with paintbrushes to assist in "cutting-in." However, each of these devices have suffered certain serious drawbacks which have prevented any of them from gaining widespread acceptance or use. For example, many of them are difficult to apply to the paintbrush or can be adapted only to one size paintbrush or require special fittings to be applied to the paintbrush. Also, many of them do not allow for easy dipping of the brush into the paint can without smearing on the device and therefore detracting from its usefulness. Also, many of these devices are awkward to use and in some cases must be separated from the paintbrush thereby requiring two hands to do the operation.

The present invention relates to a bottle insert for sealing between a reservoir assembly and an applicator in a product container, especially such an insert for providing a noncylindrical wiping action over a comb type applicator tip. Bottle inserts are utilized in reservoir assemblies containing products for a wide variety of purposes, such as cosmetics, paint, glue, or medicine and these products can be in many different forms, such as liquid, gel, or compressed powder. The applicator is detachably joined to the reservoir assembly with the bottle insert providing a seal to preclude leakage of the product therebetween. A tip extends from the applicator on a shaft to contact the product within the reservoir assembly. As the applicator is withdrawn from the reservoir assembly to dispense the product, the bottle insert provides a wiping action thereover in most product containers. Many bottle inserts having compressible sealing rims are known in the prior art. However, such rims can be squeezed from the sealing interface within the product container when the reservoir assembly and applicator thereof are joined with excessive pressure. Because leaks are likely to develop at each void where the rim is squeezed from the sealing interface, problems have been encountered with product containers utilizing such inserts. The wiping action of the bottle insert removes excess product from the applicator and controls the amount of product that is dispensed on the tip thereof. Many different types of applicator tips are known and although most of these types require a cylindrical wiping action, some require a noncylindrical wiping action. Applicator tips which require a cylindrical wipe include those having bristles arranged either radially or longitudinally from the applicator shaft, those having only grooves in the shaft, those utilizing either felt or cellular materials and those having a combination of such bristles, grooves and felt or cellular materials. The most commonly used applicator tip which requires a noncylindrical wipe is the type having a number of rigid combs disposed along the applicator shaft with teeth extending radially therefrom on each comb. Because the product is only dispensed from between the teeth on each comb of this tip, it is necessary to wipe across each comb and between all adjacent combs. A cylindrical wipe is generally applied by a wiping diaphragm which has a centrally located aperture and which flexes to expand the aperture in exerting radial forces of equal magnitude around the applicator tip. The noncylindrical wipe over the comb type tip is generally applied by a wiping diaphragm which has slits extending therethrough in a radial direction from a centrally located aperture therein and on which separate portions flex between adjacent combs when the combs are passed through the slits. Because the structural and functional characteristics of these wiping diaphragms are very different, no bottle insert has yet been devised for adapting to provide either the cylindrical or noncylindrical wipe corresponding with the type of applicator tip that is selected for use in the product container. Furthermore, many difficulties are encountered with the bottle inserts known in prior art for providing the noncylindrical wipe over comb type tips. These difficulties arise mainly because the desired wiping action is only attained when the combs have been aligned to pass through the slits of the wiping diaphragm. Since the slits are visually inaccessible on the wiping diaphragm in the direction of applicator withdrawal from the product container, such alignment is accomplished only by turning the applicator while applying a force thereto in the direction of withdraw. If too much force is applied, the combs do not pass through the slits and a poor wiping action results. Damage also occurs to the wiping diaphragm from repeatedly passing the applicator therethrough with the combs misaligned from the slits.

The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of floor cleaning machine constructed in the form of a carriage or mobile car equipped with a shaft or center pole and having at least one motor-driven cleaning implement or tool, such as a brush or pad, rotating about a substantially verical axis for the wet cleaning or scrubbing of the floor or the like. The cleaning machine of this development is of the type wherein a regulatable quantity of fresh water which is admixed with a suitable cleaning agent flows-out from a fresh water supply per unit of time to the region of the cleaning implement or tool, the cleaning machine then works such fresh water-cleaning agent mixture by means of the cleaning implement on the floor and the resultant soiled or contaminated water is sucked-up from the floor and collected in a separate soiled or contaminated water container. The invention particularly also relates to features of components belonging to the air-water circulation system. Equipment of the aforementioned type are partially employed in those situations where it is cumbersome to travel each time with the machine to the next drain and to a water tap, for instance when traveling over door thresholds, stairs and so forth, for the purpose of emptying the contaminated or soiled water container and replenishing the fresh water supply. Hence, machines have become known to the art wherein the water containers can be disconnected from the machine and are portable. If the containers are fixedly installed in the machine then there is required as an accessory device a separate portable container. Machines having two loose containers impair the compactness, yet however are required in use because both the spatial requirements (available space), the surface dimension (cleaning) and the weight (transport, handling, material costs) should be maintained as small as possible.

It is to be understood that the present invention pertains to removing skin from the backs of poultry and fowl including old and young chickens, at least small turkeys, ducks, and guineas, but for simplicity; the same are hereinafter defined by the generic term "poultry". In the commercial processing of poultry for human consumption, after removal of the more choice members of the carcass, such as the breasts, thighs, and/or legs, wings, and necks, the one remaining carcass member is the back section. Since the back member contains a relatively scant amount of lean meat thereon, the meat recovered therefrom has traditionally been employed in combination with other foodstuff ingredients in the preparation of various types of chicken soups and similar products. However, with the advent of a recent government ruling, a certain amount of lean poultry meat may be incorporated into the compounding of frankfurters, as long as the percentage of lean meat so incorporated therein does not exceed an allowable predetermined percentage, whereby the label on such frankfurters which contain such poultry meat therein within the allowable percentage, may indicate that such frankfurters contain all meat. The aforementioned government ruling has thus created a new market and new demand for the relatively inexpensive back meat of poultry which heretofore was utilized in the preparation of other less expensive foodstuffs. The subject of the instant invention comprises a machine which is designed to automatically remove the kidneys and fatty skin tissue from a series of poultry back carcass members introduced to the machine, so that the processed carcass members delivered from the machine may be employed in foodstuffs in regard to which the controlling regulations require that the poultry meat so utilized comprises only lean, fat-free flesh. Although various mechanical devices have heretofore been disclosed in patents wherein pairs of rollers having intermeshing helical ribs have been used to remove skin from poultry gizzards, such devices have not included means to accommodate poultry back members or otherwise suggested the use of such machines to remove skin from poultry back members. Further, while conveyance means similar to those employed in the instant invention and by which poultry back carcass members are transported from the infeed section, through various processing stations of the machine, to the delivery of said machine are shown in prior patents, they are for a different purpose and thus are patentably distinguishable from the present invention. For example, the conveyance mechanism shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,406,425 to Hill, dated Oct. 22, 1968, and comprising an endless chain impaling conveyor means engages and delivers poultry gizzard members to a set of inwardly and oppositely rotating course gear members in axial alignment with a second set of connected helical gear members, whereby said gizzards are subjected to a skinning operation which macerates the skins. Hence, while the instant invention incorporates a conveyance and skinning operation which has some similarity to that disclosed in the patent to Hill, the sequence of processing events and the processing results obtained by the instant invention are significantly different from those results obtained by the Hill disclosure. Other patent disclosures also exist which show the employment of helical gear means to remove the skin from poultry gizzard members and macerate the skin. Among such disclosures are those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,038 to Platt, dated July 30, 1963, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,991 to Edwards, dated Dec. 2, 1969, and in another patent to Edwards, U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,714 dated May 25, 1971. Again, as heretofore pointed out, the disclosures in the three aforementioned patents specifically employ helical gear means to remove and macerate the protective skin covering from poultry gizzard members. Therefore, since the helical gear members employed in the instant invention are utilized for accomplishing the removal of different skin coverings from different poultry members and include different additional handling mechanism from that of said patents, the present invention is patentably distinguishable from the means disclosed in the aforementioned patents. Mechanical means for removing the tail section of a poultry back member are revealed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,714,682 to Harben, dated Feb. 6, 1973, wherein poultry back carcass members are individually and manually positioned in the guide section of a set of roller means, one of the rollers of said set having cutting blades affixed thereto, whereby the rotatable engagement of said cutting roller with the tail section of said back carcass members result in the severing of said tail section from said carcass member. Although the end result is the same, i.e., removal of the tail section from the back carcass member by mechanical means, the mechanical means employed in the instant invention and the manner of positioning the tail section for removal, are readily and patentably distinguished over the disclosure shown in the Harben patent. The vacuum removal of kidneys also has also long been known in the art as set forth in the disclosures in U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,097 to Knight, dated June 24, 1969, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,656 to Jahnke, dated Nov. 6, 1973. However, the disclosures set forth in the two aforementioned patents relate to manually operable vacuum devices for the removal of kidneys and other visceral members from the carcass of a chicken or similar type fowl. The absence of automatic viscera membrane retaining severing means, as well as automatic vacuum removal of exposed viscera, neither of which are shown in the patent disclosures of Knight or Jahnke likewise distinguishes the instant invention over these previous two disclosures. As heretofore pointed out the instant invention is distinguishable from said earlier inventions in one or more ways in that the present invention has utility features and new and useful advantages, applications, and improvements in the art of processing mechanism to remove skin from poultry back members not hereintofore disclosed, as set forth hereinafter.

Various methods have been employed heretofore in mechanically pulling the hides from meat animals, as a step in the processing of meat on a rapid production basis. According to one method, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,550, a carcass is suspended by the hind legs and mechanical means are provided for stripping a loosened hide from the hindquarters toward the head. In this patent, electric stimulus is employed to cause carcass muscle contraction, which is said to stiffen the carcass and facilitate progressive removal of the hide from the body and the skull as a continuous operation. A somewhat similar operation is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,130. The prior methods above mentioned have been employed both with and without the aid of electric stimulus, with varying degrees of success. In some forms of mechanical apparatus for hide removal, the hide stripping operation commenced at the skull and progressed toward the hindquarters. This usually entailed a preliminary burden of skillful hand knifing at the skull, as well as along the sides of the carcass, without decreasing the liklihood of damage to the hide, flesh, and spine of the carcass. Such devices usually pulled the hide laterally then upwardly toward the hindquarters of the suspended carcass, as disclosed in a general way by the drawings hereto appended.

Slub catchers and tensioning devices are the subject matter of numerous patents. In a recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,668 a device combining slub catching and tensioning was designed to enable reducing the distance involved in obtaining both slub removal and tensioning in one passage of the yarn as distinguished from most prior yarn processing apparatus wherein the slub removal and tensioning are performed at two different places along the path of the yarn travel. The combination device as shown in the aforesaid patent is embodied in a slub removing apparatus such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,461,520, 3,501,820 and 3,543,357, wherein a plurality of narrow blades are supported transversely of the path of movement of the yarn at one side thereof and a single rigid bar supported longitudinally of the path of movement of the yarn at the other side and there is means for yieldably supporting the narrow blades for individual displacement and means for moving the entire array of narrow blades toward and from the rigid bar to change the width of the yarn passage. This invention is concerned with an improved structure for varying the width of the yarn passage, and improved means for applying tension to the yarn as it travels through the passage.

The invention relates to an apparatus for processing yarn packages for dyeing and, in particular, to an apparatus for replacing a relatively impervious transfer core of a yarn package with a dye penetrating foraminous core. Yarn that has been processed for dyeing may be in the form of bulked continuous filament thermoplastic yarn such as polyester, nylon or cellulose triacetate yarn, as well as spun yarn, such as direct spun rayon having residual shrinkage of up to 20 percent when exposed to conditions of high humidity or when immersed in aqueous solutions, or acrylic yarn having high residual shrinkage by reason of unrelaxed heat sensitive fibers in the yarn. This yarn is generally wound into package form about a cardboard or paper transfer core or tube such that the outer portion of the package is at substantially a desired bulk level whereas the innner portion is somewhat below this level. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,110, the bulk level of the inner portion of the package may be increased by simultaneously removing the cardboard package core while inserting a perforate dye core or tube of a predetermined smaller diameter than the cardboard core. The inner portion of the highly stretchable yarn then contracts (and gains bulk) about the perforate core. Apparatus for replacing the cardboard core with a perforate core is disclosed in the aforesaid patent. However, such apparatus is subject to various drawbacks. The apparatus employs a vertically movable mandrel upon which is placed a perforate core. Upon actuation, the perforate core is pushed downwardly into engagement with a cardboard core in the yarn package, whereupon the continued downward movement causes the perforate core to push the cardboard core completely out of the package. Owing to the pressure and movement of the entering perforated core, there is a tendency of the yarn package to come apart and unduly distort. The apparatus is only able to process yarn packages singly whereas multiple package processing is more desirable for economy and efficiency purposes. Further, owing to the fact that both the cardboard transfer core and perforated dye core simultaneously move through the yarn it has been found necessary to sandwich a paper or knit sleeve or sock between the yarn and the transfer core to serve as a bridge or shield during transfer. Without the sleeve it has been observed that some of the strands of yarn become trapped between the ends of the transfer core and the dye core during the operation, thereby disturbing the continuity of the yarn. As set forth in the above-referenced application Ser. No. 105,920, it has been found that the above drawbacks and disadvantages are overcome by placing a replacement dye core within the cardboard transfer core and thereafter pulling the cardboard core out of the yarn package to permit the package to contract around the replacement core. Apparatus for performing such a process has been proposed as set forth in the co-pending application. While achieving satisfactory results, further improvements have now been provided for simultaneously processing at least two yarn packages in continuous operation. Provision is also made for effective handling and disposing of the cardboard transfer core.

The present invention relates generally to the field of film winding and packaging devices and techniques, and more specifically, to a machine and method for winding film into a scroll and loading it with a film take-up spool into an empty film cartridge such as commonly used in photographic still cameras. Cartridges of the type assembled by the present invention have been developed and in wide spread use for some time necessitating the need for high speed mass production of fully loaded and assembled cartridges for mass distribution and sale to the public. The cartridge generally comprises a bottom portion having a double chamber for receiving and housing the scrolled film and take-up spool and a cover assembled with the bottom portion and sealed thereto. The scroll of film is generally wound with a layer of protective paper usually provided with appropriate indicia or markings so as to determine discrete lengths of film. The film and paper are appropriately connected to the take-up spool for film advancing and winding during the picture taking procedures. The take-up spool, cartridge cover and bottom receiving portion are preferably made of a plastic material. Cartridges of the foregoing type have been designed so as to facilitate picture taking by the amateur or inexperienced photographer. Improper loading or insertion of the cartridge into the camera has been avoided by designing the cartridge with one end thereof of a different size or shape than the other so that insertion into a properly designed camera can be made in only one way. Further, these cartridges have eliminated the necessity for rewinding film such as is common in the more sophisticated 35 mm type cameras and have further eliminated the possibility of loosely wound or unraveling rolls of film. Accordingly, the cartridge and cartridge loading cameras have become vastly popular and widely used. Aa variety of techniques and machines have been designed and developed in an attempt to efficiently and rapidly load and assemble such cartridges. Such prior machines and techniques have involved a series of complicated procedures and steps of assembly requiring a number of operators and have involved complicated machinery for handling and conveying the various components of the cartridge to appropriate assembly and sealing stations. Several guide tracks have usually been employed to separately advance the paper, film and cartridge elements to an assembly or operating position. One such prior technique of loading and assembling requires the step of preassembling the double chambered bottom portion with the cover prior to loading, transporting the assembled but unsealed cartridge to a loading station, employing means to remove the cover and inserting a scroll of film and take-up spool into their respective chambers in the bottom portion of the cartridge. It has been found that preassembly and consequent removal of the cover is an unnecessary step in the assembly operation requiring additional structure for the assembly apparatus further complicating the machinery and requiring possible additional operators. The winding or scrolling of the film with backing paper has typically been accomplished by wrapping the film about a driven spindle. Difficulties have been encountered in the prior known apparatus and techniques for accurately and rapidly securing the free end of a strip of film and backing paper to the spindle without causing jam-ups in the machine operation. Prior art techniques have also involved the taping or otherwise securing the sensitized film to the backing paper which is ultimately interleaved between the wound film so as to properly register discrete lengths of film with indicia or marking on the backing paper for use by the photographer during the picture taking operation. It has been found that this also is an unnecessary step further requiring additional complicating structure. It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide a machine or apparatus for efficiently, rapidly and accurately loading and assembling film cartridges of the foregoing type for mass distribution. A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for loading and assembling film cartridges which avoid complications of the prior techniques and machines eliminating unnecessary steps and simplifying machinery and equipment. It is yet another object of the present invention to avoid difficulties in winding the film and paper about a spindle encountered by prior known devices and to provide an apparatus which rapidly and accurately winds the film and paper into a scroll for insertion in the cartridge in a virtually trouble free manner. A further object of the present invention is to provide a semi-automatic cartridge loading system of improved reliability minimizing supervision and numbers of operators required. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus facilitating complete winding and scrolling operation of the film, insertion thereof into a hollow cartridge along with an attached take-up spool, assembly of the hollow cartridge with a cover, sealing the cover to the cartridge and delivery of a completed, sealed and loaded cartridge ready for labeling and packaging. The above objects, features and advantages along with other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings to be described more fully hereinafter.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to metalworking and more particularly to a mechanical process by flaring an inserted tube end or expanding a part in an aperture or radial expanding an internal fitted tube. 2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art of metalworking has known many types of tube and fitting assemblies wherein a tube and fitting are joined without the aid of threads, nuts, and the like. Generally, the tube or fitting is deformed or swaged to seal the tube to the fitting. In many cases, the swaging or deformation process causes a cold welding of the tube and fitting due to the extremely high pressures exerted between the tube and fitting. Cold welding was generally accomplished on softer materials such as aluminum and the like. One disadvantage of cold welding is that the weld only takes place when the materials were freshly cut or prepared. If aluminum parts were stored for any substantial period of time then no cold weld would form due to aluminum oxide on the surface. The prior art has joined tube and fitting assemblies by inserting a tube into a fitting and using a flaring tool to expand the tubing wall to engage the fitting. For example, a fitting bore may have a recess wherein the tubing wall is radially expanded by a flaring tool to engage the bore recess to form a seal between the tube and the fitting. This process was suitable for larger tubings but was impractical for small tubings where a flaring tool cannot be easily inserted. The prior art has used a ring stake process to join a small tube to a fitting. The ring stake process incorporates a fitting having a single bore substantially the same diameter as the tube. The tube is inserted into the bore and a die swages an outside surface of the fitting surrounding the bore to cause a deformation of the fitting to engage the tubing wall. This process did not require any internal flaring tool and provided a satisfactory low-pressure seal so long as no torsional strain was applied between the tube and the fitting. However, the seal could be destroyed if a torque was applied between the tube and the fitting about the axis of the tube. Consequently, the ring stake tube fitting assembly proved unreliable for many applications. Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a method of making a tube fitting assembly which requires no cold welding. Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a tube fitting assembly which requires no internal flaring tools. Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a tube fitting assembly which can be formed in a one-step operation. Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a tube fitting assembly which has a high torsional strength. Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a tube fitting assembly which is capable of high pressure sealing. Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a tube fitting assembly which is reliable.

1. Field of the Invention: The present invention relates generally to junction field effect transistors and more particularly to the fabrication of a junction field effect transistor with the aim of minimizing the devices "on resistance" and thereby increasing the yield of acceptable devices. 2. The Prior Art Typically, it has been the practice heretofore to fabricate the top gate of a junction field effect transistor using standard photolithic and diffusion techniques. Oxide is grown over the source and drain material, photoresist is deposited and developed, and the oxide and photoresist is selectively removed by planar etching to form a rectangular gate aperture. Gate material is then deposited and diffused into the aperture in the oxide. The width of the diffuse gate is limited by the minimum oxide line width that can be obtained by planar etching of the mask formed using present photolithic techniques. Since minimum "on resistance" (R.sub.on) of a junction field effect transistor (JFET) is determined in part by the effective width of the gate, the R.sub.on of the JFET of the prior art have been limited by said minimum oxide line width.

The present invention relates to a machine tool provided with an automatic tool change device and a guard cover apparatus. In a machine tool with an automatic tool change device wherein a tool storage magazine storing a plurality of radially arranged tools is provided above a spindle, a guard cover or net has usually been provided below the tool magazine over an entire circumference of the magazine in order to prevent an operator from being injured, even if a tool accidentally falls from the magazine. However, the guard cover or net has not in the past been covered at the vicinity of the tool change position on the magazine such that the tool change operation may be performed between the tool change position and the spindle. Therefore, there has existed the risk of the tool falling through the uncovered portion and interfering with a tool which is rotating at the machining position, such that a serious accident could occur.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing compact thermoelectric modules. 2. Description of the Prior Art Thermoelectric modules comprising P type elements and N type elements stacked alternately, each element of one type being connected to the neighbouring elements which are of the other type by connection bridges, in which the P and N elements are very thin plates on whose edge the connection bridges are arranged, are known. The modules are usually formed manually and the method for manufacturing such modules according to the invention is particularly simple and makes substantial time saving possible.

The present invention relates to a process for attaching a thermally and electrically conductive lead to a refractory metal contact of a semiconductor device by a high temperature brazing process. Passivated semiconductor devices generally include a semiconductor body composed substantially of silicon, a layer of passivating material such as glass or plastic disposed about the semiconductor body, and at least one metallic contact extending outwardly from the semiconductor body through the passivating layer as an external contact for connection with associated circuitry. More specifically, such devices require that the metallic contacts be refractory in nature in order that the coefficients of thermal expansion of the semiconductor body, the passivating layer and the metallic contact be reasonably matched to avoid breakage during thermal cycling. Molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum and various special alloys are typical of the refractory metals used as such refractory metal contacts; however, since such materials are both expensive and relatively poor conductors of both heat and electric current, the refractory metal contacts are generally joined to good conventional conductors (such as copper, silver or various special alloys) just beyond the passivating layer, the connection between the refractory contact and the other circuitry elements being made by the conventional conductor. In the case of axial-lead construction semiconductor rectifiers, the connection of the conventional axial lead to the refractory metal contact is accomplished by one of the following two procedures. In the first procedure, the refractory material is initially plated with a solderable metal such as silver before application of the passivating layer. After the passivating operation, the axial leads are attached to the refractory metal contacts using "soft solder" preforms with melting points typically less than 300.degree.C. Devices containing such connections have the disadvantages commonly associated with soft solder contacts. If extreme temperature control is not exercised in soldering the axial lead to other circuit components, the axial lead may detach from the refractory metal contact as the soft solder heats up. In any case, it has been found that such soft solder joints are subject to thermal fatigue and a resultant short operating life. In the other procedure, the refractory metal contact is joined to the axial lead by a special welding process known as butt welding. The joint and the axial lead must thereafter be exposed to all the chemical and heat-treating processes subsequently required to (1) join the semiconductor body to the refractory metal contact, (2) etch the subassembly, and (3) apply and fuse the passivating glass layer. The devices fashioned according to this procedure are not reliable in the first place because a true weld is not possible between the refractory metal of the contact and the conventional conductive metal of the axial lead. Furthermore, the processing operations required to complete the semiconductor device subsequent to formation of the refractory contact/axial lead joint frequently result in a weak and porous joint which will develop high electrical and thermal resistance in time or eventually even fail mechanical and fall off. Experience has shown that butt welded joints have extremely high failure rates when exposed to conditions of high temperature and high humidity, the failure rate rising as high as 50 percent at 85.degree.C and 85 percent relative humidity. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for attaching a thermally and electrically conductive lead to a refractory metal contact of a semiconductor device using a high temperature brazing process. It is another object to provide such a process which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages of soft solder and "butt welded" joints. It is also an object to provide such a process wherein the resultant joint is of higher physical strength and lower porosity than a butt-welded joint, withstands a higher temperature than a soft solder joint, and withstands conditions of high temperature and high humidity better than a butt-welded joint. It is a further object to provide such a process which enables a conventional lead to be joined to a refractory contact at the same time and at the same temperature conditions as the refractory contact is joined to the semiconductor body. Yet another object is to provide such a process which utilizes a special preform, is simple and economical to perform, is less expensive than a butt welding, and provides joints superior to those produced by soft solder or butt welding processes. Yet a further object is to provide such a process whereby a joint between a semiconductor body and a refractory contact member is formed at the same time and at the same temperatures as the joint between the refractory contact member and a lead member. A final object is to provide a semiconductor device having a lead member joined thereto by the aforesaid process.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the assembly and testing of intricate components. One example of the use of such a method and apparatus is in the assembly and testing of wiring harnesses for vehicles, such as automobiles. Such wiring harnesses require the assembly and testing of a plurality of intricate electrical components, such as electrical wires, resistors, capacitors, switches and fuses. The method and apparatus of this invention is addressed to two broad functions: assembly and testing. The testing function is conducted during the various stages of assembly, rather than after assembly has been completed. The assembly and testing of wiring harness requires that the wiring harnesses be tested for electrical continuity and that the wiring harnesses be free of electrical open, crossed, shorted and incomplete circuits. For example, among the typical problems which may occur during the assembly of wiring harnesses are: Wires may be connected to the wrong pins in a connector. Wires may be connected to the wrong connector. Insulation strips may be impropertly assembled at the connector and allow two wires to short circuit. A connector may have defective contacts. Contacts of a wire may not be fully inserted into the connector. In prior art assembly lines, when wiring harnesses are fully assembled and then tested, the wiring harnesses which are found defective must be discarded or set aside for further analysis and repair. Typical prior art apparatus and methods, such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,768,428 to MacGregor et al., use a synchronized conveyor belt system and only test for electrical misconnection or continuity. Some prior art apparatus and methods allow the wiring harness to continue along the assembly to completion of assembly before defects are corrected. In addition, the use of an overhead projector above a work surface to provide a lighted arrow to direct the assembly of electrical components, such as wiring harnesses, has been disclosed in promotional literature by Ragen Precision Industries, Inc., 9 Porete Avenue, North Arlington, N.J.

The conventional knife with a folding blade can be conveniently carried and handled since the blade of such a knife can be inserted into the slot of the handle, where the cutting edge and tip of the blade are shielded and the knife is effectively shorter. The conventional folding knife usually requires the presence of a rigidly fixed blade pivot pin which extends through the blade-receiving slot of the handle, and the blade pivots about the pivot pin. The pivot pin is usually peened at its ends to make the ends larger so as to form a friction fit with the handle. As the knife is used, the pivot pin usually works loose from the layers of the handle structure so that the blade-receiving slot of the handle becomes slightly larger and the blade develops an undesirable lateral looseness or wobble with respect to the handle. The handle of the conventional folding knife also usually has a leaf spring biased against each blade tang to urge each blade toward its opened or closed positions and to keep the blade from moving freely with respect to the handle. While it is desirable to maintain a degree of stiffness between the blade and handle to keep the blade from floating, it is hazardous to have the blade biased toward its opened or closed positions. It is desirable to have the blade seek its opened and closed positions when being moved toward and approaching one of these positions, and it is desirable to lock the blade in its opened position to remove the hazard of having the blade inadvertantly close on the fingers of the user.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,972,363 and 3,438,410 disclose annular ring saws which employ apertured circular blades. These portable power saws permit a depth of cut greater than the radius of the blade. The ring blades shown in these two patents are each peripherally driven by a power roller. Each blade has grooves formed in its upper and/or lower blade surfaces to accommodate blade guide rollers which maintain the blade virtual axial displacement as it is rotationally driven about its virtuall axis. Blade support rollers also act similarly on the blade's inner periphery to prevent radial displacement. When a tree or other workpiece is being out by the power saw, the high speed blade encounters considerable resistance from the workpiece. These reaction forces act to shift the virtual axis of the ring blade in a direction opposite to that of blade rotation. In the two previously mentioned patents, these reaction forces are primarily opposed by the operator himself, resulting in fatigue, and by the blade guide and blade support rollers. However, experience has shown that, due to the blade's high speed, the reaction forces tend to quickly heat and wear the grooves in the blade and to heat and wear the guide and support rollers themselves. This wearing action produces undesired blade vibration and poor cutting action. The solution of strengthening the blade, its grooves and the rollers is unsatisfactory for commercial reasons. Portable power saws of the ring type must be extremely light in order to compete with currently marketed saws, such as chain saws or circular saws which weigh as little as 61/2 lbs. Therefore, adding more weight and/or substituting more expensive heat dissipating materials is an unsatisfactory solution to the problem of dynamic operational instability and rapid blade groove and roller wear. It is an object of this invention to provide means for dynamically stabilizing the power tool so that the aforementioned wear problems are eliminated or at least greatly reduced. Another object is to provide dynamic stabilizing means which permits a reduction of the weight, power requirement and manufacturing cost of the power tool and especially which permits the use of a very thin saw blade, grinding wheel or other ring tool. A further object is to provide a power tool which has many advanced features such as means for rapidly inserting and withdrawing the ring tool from its housing, means for self-lubricating the ring tool and the rollers, means for preventing the build-up of waste on the power tool's moving parts, and safety means causing the drive roller to slip on the ring tool when excessive load occurs.

Various equipments and techniques are known for establishing azimuth or other position data for gun or missile batteries. One such technique employs surveying techniques using transits or their equivalents. This technique is slow, requires at least two men to perform, and requires quite a bit of skill on the part of these men. The current most rapid technique employs a highly accurate electronic navigator mounted on a vehicle such as a jeep. The navigator provides an optical output such that some optical reference on the gun or missile can be checked for alignment by using a theodolite or its equivalent. Although more rapid than surveying alone, this method is still slow and requires a skilled operator. One such known system is the PADS (Position & Azimuth Determining System) made by the Guidance and Control Systems Division of Litton Industries. A description of PADS is in Final Report E TL-CR-73-6 of June 1973, by S. R. Ellms. This report is available at the Defense Documentation Center, Cameron Station, Virginia. The instant invention is able to directly determine azimuth or position of the gun or missile relative to the navigator, is very rapid, and requires only one semiskilled operator.

1. Field of the Invention This invention provides an apparatus for drying a travelling web which may, for example, be a web of paper or paperboard. 2. Description of the Prior Art The introduction of various new methods of forming paper and board in the last ten years has led to significant increases in paper machine speed and it is now possible to manufacture paper at more than twice the speeds achieved previously using traditional forming methods. Significant improvements in press design have been made over the corresponding period as the machine speed increased but the moisture content of the fibre web entering the dryers has not changed appreciably. Greatly increased demands are therefore made on the dryer section, especially in the manufacture of paperboards, and the cost of the increased number of steam heated cylinders together with the extended building and ancilliaries has become a major capital item. Further, in many older machines, the full benefit of rebuilding the pressing and forming section cannot be realized due to drying limitations. Much effort has been expended in attempts to develop drying techniques to supplement or replace the steam heated cylinders. The list would include sectional and pocket ventilation, high velocity air impingement hoods, and plenums acting against the unsupported sheet, radiant and high frequency systems, vacuum and through drying techniques, fluidized bed and low melting point alloy systems. These various techniques are well documented and it is fair to say that none are as satisfactory, overall, as the steam heated cylinder when properly ventilated. Condensate removal systems for cylinders have kept pace with machine speed increases and the economics of simultaneous power and steam generation is such that cylinder drying is not equalled by any alternative system except perhaps by the Papridrier, which is not yet proved for heavier paperboard manufacture. The various alternatives have only found limited application, to supplement output where costing is on a marginal basis, to eliminate moisture streaks, dry paper coatings and exploit any anomalies in fuel costs. For lightweight papers the air impingement hood is often employed in conjunction with a Yankee cylinder. The prospects for advance in drying technology seem to be best where the process is based on the present conventional steam cylinder system. Many aspects of the drying mechanism on the cylinder are still debated. However, it is indisputable that less than half the board surface is in contact with the cylinders at any time. It is equally certain that air impingement onto the remaining available surface will significantly increase the rates of evaporation. The extent depends on a number of factors, in particular the thickness of the board. In practice, however, air impingement is more difficult and expensive to arrange on multi cylinder dryers than say on a Yankee tissue machine where only one large cylinder is usually employed. Firstly, a whole series of hoods are required which are costly and occupy much space and the broke arising from breaks in the sheet accumulating in each hood can have a disastrous effect on machine efficiency. Attempts to use impingement dryers on individual steam cylinders of paperboard machines have been largely abandoned for the above reasons. In principle, the air impingement technique remains attractive since evaporation rates of 2 to 8 times the rate for cylinders alone can be achieved. The present invention provides an apparatus which enables air impingement to be achieved without the mechanical and other limitations of fixed air impingement hoods.

This invention relates to a clog and more particularly, to a pliable synthetic resin thong for use with the clog. There have been proposed and practically employed a great variety of clogs and one of the most common type clogs comprises wooden body having a round hole positioned at a point in the longitudinal axis of the body adjacent to one end and a pair of round holes positioned on the opposite sides of the longitudinal axis adjacent to the other end and to the opposite side edges of the body and a single thong which comprises a hemp core or or the like of a length, a stuffing surrounding the core except at the opposite ends of the core which extend beyond the adjacent ends of the stuffing and a fabric in the form of a narrow strip covering a substantial portion of the core and substantially the entire stuffing leaving the opposite ends of the core uncovered and sewn together at the opposite side edges of the fabric. The thong is conventionally secured to the clog body by folding in the center thereof where the stuffing has been removed or substantially removed into two thong portions, applying a fore strap about the center of the thong, passing the opposite ends of the fore strap through the axially positioned hole adjacent to one end of the clog body, tying the opposite ends of the fore strap together on the under surface of the clog body to make a knot having a size larger than the size of the associated hole to prevent the fore strap from coming off the hole, passing the free ends of the two thong portions through the holes adjacent to the other end of the clog body and tying the exposed opposite ends of the hemp core together on the under surface of the clog body to thereby complete the securing of the thong to the clog body. Therefore, the production of the prior art thong and securing the thong to the clog body require time consuming and tedious works. In addition, the thong itself, knots and/or connected portions of the thong are easily subjected to damage and/or breakage when moistened and/or handled roughly resuling in the separation of the thong from the clog body which means short service life of the clog thong.

1. Field of the Invention: The invention herein pertains to a steam iron soleplate, generator, and steam distributor subassembly using inexpensive parts in an arrangement for easy cleaning and efficient conversion of all water to steam in a simplified arrangement that permits use of any number of soleplate surfaces. 2. Description of the Prior Art: Recent designs in irons disclose simpler irons that may use plastic parts, may be used as clothes steamers as well as for ironing, are lighter weight, and that are intended to sell at a lower price. These irons use different constructions from the normal rather complex well-known constructions. Typically, such irons may employ the construction shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,260,005 and 3,811,208 showing a soleplate subassembly and semi-plastic construction, respectively. One of the difficulties in using relatively thin soleplates is applying the heating element to the soleplate without causing the soleplate to warp. Typically, this is not a problem in the normal heavy cast soleplate where the heating element is cast in the soleplate or is welded to it and the heavy soleplate provides a large heat sink and is sufficiently massive for machining of the surface afterward. Additionally, in steam irons it is necessary that the parts be effectively sealed because of the presence of water and the sealing compound applied between separable parts is itself often the source of trouble in creating dri-filming problems where the water tends to boil and bounce on the heated surface rather than wet it and boil off as steam.

1. Field of the Invention. The present invention relates to a calendar and more particularly to a calendar indicating the day, the date and the month of the year, for desk use. 2. Prior Art. Heretofore, numerous calendars have been provided in the prior art which required a great deal of manipulation in order to change the date and the day of the month of the year in regard to the calendar. The desk calendar, although a convenience to the user, had been a nuisance to manipulate in order to keep the calendar up to date. Prior art devices also required the holding of the base member while adjusting the calendar because when the dials were moved the entire unit, on the push-pull type, would move as a result of the manipulation. The prior art devices further required the manipulation of numerous knobs or dials and required the pressing in and turning or the pulling out and turning of various knobs and dials to accomplish the necessary changes. The presence of these dials made the calendar rather unsightly and did not provide the convenience as originally intended with the beauty required for a person's desk.

Various signboard constructions are shown in the prior art, one such construction being shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,120 granted Mar. 27, 1973 to Henry Finkel. This Patent discloses a signboard construction having a four member frame formed of four aluminum extrusions having identical cross-sections, and a plurality of signboard members received within the frame members. Each of the signboard members of Finkel is formed of an aluminum extrusion having a lower portion of complex cross-section interconnected to the lower edge of a principal vertically extending portion, the lower portion including a pair of mounting ribs, the extrusion also including an upper V-shaped portion interconnected to the upper edge of the vertically extending portion, the ends of the V-shaped portion being received within a channel formed by the lower portion. While the construction of Finkel is generally satisfactory, each of the signboard members is unduly complex, and furthermore the Finkel construction requires a separate signboard member for each of the incremental widths of the indicia which are adapted to be carried thereby. Finkel also requires a special adapter for mounting the indicia on his signboard members. The frame members of Finkel are open on one side and this has the disadvantage in that they may collect dirt and water which may make subsequent disassembly of the signboard construction difficult. Also no means are provided for readily mounting his assembled signboard. Another signboard construction shown in the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,340 issued Dec. 6, 1966 to Edwards. This patent discloses a signboard construction wherein each of the extruded signboard members is provided with a plurality of equally spaced apart indicia receiving members. The upper and lower edges of each of the signboard members are provided with special interfitting surfaces which unduly complicate the extrusion. Special adapters are required for mounting indicia on the signboard members. The frame of this patented design is formed of wood and such a frame member construction is undesirable because of the maintenance required to preserve the wood. Other U.S. Patents which are representative of the prior art are: Nos. 3,230,652, 3,458,945, 3,696,541, 3,685,186, 3,793,757, and 3,651,592. The first three of these Patents disclose a signboard construction wherein a plurality of signboard members are interconnected to each other, the upper and the lower edges of each of the signboard members being provided with a special interfitting construction. Many of these prior art signboard constructions require special appliances for mounting the indicia on the signboard members. Others require special adapters for interconnecting the signboard members to the frames. Furthermore, none of these patents disclose structure whereby the assembled signboard can be readily mounted.

One common form of bait used for fishing is bread dough or dough balls. This type of bait is used by embedding a fishhook within the dough ball or otherwise forming the dough ball around the hook. Most generally, the bait is molded around the entire hook. One of the problems encountered in molding the bait around the hook is obtaining sufficient adhesion of the molded material to itself and around the hook to prevent the bait from separating from the hook. The present method employed by fishermen is simply to attempt to apply enough pressure to the bait material between the fingers to create the necessary adhesion of the material to itself and around the hook to prevent loss. This is often a difficult and time consuming job and is likewise not very satisfactory. Another problem which is encountered in hand molding the bait upon the hook is the end shape or form of the molded bait. It is preferable to have the bait uniformly and evenly molded around the hook and, in many cases, of a form which can be easily swallowed by the fish. Hand forming of the moldable bait material about the hook often falls very short of the desired form and shape of the bait upon the hook.

This invention relates generally to an outrigger fishing line release clip, and specifically to a clip which engages and holds a fishing line to the pay-out line on an outrigger pole, the clip providing predetermined tensioning for holding the fishing line such that when the line is hit by a fish, the clip will release the fishing line from the outrigger. The use of release clips for fishing lines on outrigger poles is well known. Release clips shown in the prior art have several drawbacks and have had problems with the fishing line being fouled in the outrigger line and the clip itself. Oftentimes, due to wind conditions or the movement of the boat, the tension on the fishing line itself will vary such that a slack condition has in the past resulted in the tangling or twisting of the fishing line about the clip body. Another problem that has been encountered is that when paying out the outrigger line, the outrigger line will often twist or spin as it is being wound through the outrigger guide. This spinning action of the outrigger line causes the clip itself to spin. The fishing line attached to the clip will then become twisted in the clip and the outrigger line, fouling and preventing a clean release of the line. Swivels have been employed at the ends of the clips in an effort to alleviate this problem but have not totally done the job because of variable tension on the fishing line and corrosion of the swivel mechanism, which prevents the swivel from working properly. The instant invention overcomes these problems of the prior art by providing an offset center of gravity pivot axis along one of the sides of the clip body which when the body is attached to the outrigger line tends to have the clip hang instead of twist. The shape of the clip body and the arrangement of the fishing line releasable arm which has an adjustable tension means is contoured to eliminate and reduce entangling protrusions. The clip also includes a freely rotatable outrigger line attaching wire which allows the clip body to hang in one plane, even though the attaching wire itself may spin. The fishing line release arm has an adjustable tensioning feature so that any particular tension may be utilized with the clip.

With increasing number of apartments and condominiums, there has been a proportional increase in the demand for indoor plants. This demand is primarily based upon the desire to bring a little bit of the outdoors inside for a natural beautifying effect. Many of these plants are supported in various types of macrames which are capable of hanging the plants in single or double hanging pots. The macrames are a series of ropes which are normally woven by hand and which in combination provide the supporting saddles for each pot. The various macrame ropes are often braided from four strands of material, such as jute, hemp, cotton, wool, or similar type of fibrous material. Many new designs are new appearing on the market which make the hanging pots with their plants even more desirable as an interior decorative item.

Windows embodying sash members which are both vertically slidable and tiltable are extremely well known in the art, as exemplified, for example, by Rodriguez U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,157 dated Sept. 2, 1969; Weidner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,236, dated Mar. 25, 1969; and Woodhams U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,005 dated May 28, 1963. In windows of this general type, it has been found that the pivotal mounting for the sash members permits them to be swung to an open position to facilitate cleaning and maintenance, as well as permitting maximum entry of air. In windows of this type, it is often desirable to tilt one of the sashes to a partially-open position, since such a position permits some degree of ventilation, but at the same time prevents the undersirable entry of rain, wind or the like. Obviously, if the sashes are slidably open to a small degree, suitable ventilation will be obtained, but rain, wind and the like will be free to enter through the exposed opening. Accordingly, it is quite common when a person is leaving one's home for an extended period of time for that person to tilt one of the sashes to a partially-open position, which position permits some entry of outside air to effect some degree of ventilation within the house, while at the same time effectively blocking undersirable entry of rain, wind or the like should a storm suddenly arise during the person's absence. In most pivoted sash-type windows, some degree of frictional drag exists during tilting movement of the sashes. For example, the sashes will frequently have resilient weatherstripping along the outer edges of the vertical side stiles, which weatherstripping effects a frictional drag on the sash as it is swung to an open position. This frictional drag is not enough to impede tilting movement of the sashes, but it is sufficient to frictionally maintain the sashes in any desired open position. The problem that arises, however, is that where a pivoted sash is tilted to a partially-open position to permit ventilation but at the same time block undesirable entry of rain, wind or the like, the frictional retention of the window in its partially-tilted position is not strong enough to withstand the forces exerted by excessive rain, wind or the like; whereby, depending upon the direction of the wind, rain or the like, the partially-open window will either be slammed shut, thus closing off all ventilation and perhaps damaging the window by the sudden impact, or else the window will be forced to swing to a completely open position wherein undesirable entry of the rain, wind or the like is no longer blocked. When this happens in an unattended house, severe damage can obviously result. The present invention overcomes the above problem by providing conveniently accessible means on the sash which may be selectively moved to an operative position to positively lock the sash in a partially-tilted position. The means for effecting this comprise an elongated strap, preferably of flexible metal, pivotally carried by the horizontal stile of the sash that swings to open position. More specifically, when the sash has been swung to its partially-open position, the aforesaid strap may easily be pivoted to its operative position wherein it extends generally perpendicular to the stile on which it is mounted, and then the free end of the strap is provided with means for interengaging a fixed portion of the window construction whereby the partially-open sash is firmly and positively held in its partially-open position. When it is desired to close the sash or swing it further open, the end of the strap is quickly and easily manually disengaged and is then pivoted to its inoperative position wherein it extends longitudinally of the stile on which it is mounted. Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

Cable window regulators of this form are used where, in pursuance of the trend in modern automobile construction, the window height is relatively large compared to the height of the wall part of the bodywork or door casing which must receive the opened window. In such cases, a relatively large travel distance must be available to the window regulator in comparison with the height of the wall part or door casing. Since however there is a lower limit to the bending radius of the threaded cable, the tubular guide must be constructed, at the end of that section of it which is parallel to the window path, as an arc. The catch travels into this arc at the end of its lifting stroke, thus leading to a constrained departure of the direction of travel of the catch from the direction of slide of the window. In a known window regulator of the type described, this deviation of direction is compensated through a slide-guide extending transversely to the window path, by the engagement of a cylindrical component, for example a roller, secured to the catch and engaging in a slot-like guide mounted on the window. In principle, this form of embodiment has proved satisfactory, but in practice an undesirably large play develops at the slide-guide after a relatively short time, especially because of wear of the cylindrical part or roller, this play resulting in the annoying so-called backlash which occurs at the operating handle for the catch. It is the objective of the invention to improve the slide-guide in a window regulator of the class initially described, so that it is relatively free of play even after considerable periods of use.

The present invention relates to improvements in vertical truing apparatus, especially those intended for simultaneous truing of the bore and the periphery of annular rings. Known machines of the kind in question comprise as we know a horizontal crosspiece associated with two fixed uprights supporting one or more heads or grinder-carrier carriages. When it is desired to true pieces of large diameter, the crosspiece has a considerable length. Moreover, the geometric axis of the spindle carrying the grinder is disposed at a rather large distance from the crosspiece since intermediate pieces have to be provided that will allow the pivoting of the grinder-carrier head in a vertical plane. Thus, in known machines there are great difficulties in achieving vertical orientation of the spindle in a precise manner because of the deformations of the different organs from the weight of the carriages.

The present invention relates to a self-contained apparatus designed to sharpen general purpose right hand twist drills approximately one-eighth inch to approximately one-half inch in diameter to commercial tolerances. A large number of prior art twist drill grinding machines are known in the art. These machines grind the points on twist drills or the like to desired contours by various methods. The present apparatus relates to a type of machine which grinds a cylindrical profile on each side of the leading end of the twist drill to either side of the web. One prior art patent which discloses an apparatus for grinding a cylindrical profile in U.S. Pat. No. 1,674,224 to Rabut issued June 19, 1928. The Rabut patent disclosed a beltdriven grinding wheel, a chuck which is operable to support twist drills or the like with the leading ends of the twist drill in contact with a surface of the grinding wheel, and means to support the chuck relative to the grinding wheel. The supporting means include a frame which is pivotally secured to the base which also supports the grinding wheel, a carrier which is pivotally secured to the frame, a shaft journaled for rotation within the carrier, and an arm which extends away at an angle from the shaft, the arm in turn being interconnected with the chuck. A gauge is also mounted adjacent one end of the arm and means are provided for elevating and depressing the chuck and the gauge to accommodate twist drills of different sizes. The chuck is mounted in such a manner that it can be rotated or indexed about its center line 180 degrees between two working positions. While the apparatus shown in the Rabut patent will satisfactorily grind the leading end of twist drills, it has numerous disadvantages. During the operation of the grinding apparatus shown in Rabut, it will be occasionally necessary to dress the grinding wheel to level off the surface which contacts the leading end of the twist drill. However, Rabut does not disclose any structure whereby a dressing tool could be mounted in his apparatus for dressing the grinding wheel, and thus, it would be necessary to provide additional means for dressing the grinding wheel. While a dressing tool could be mounted on the base of the Rabut machine in a manner taught by the U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,602 issued Mar. 28, 1972 to Hillier, such a device unnecessarily complicates the structure shown in Rabut and furthermore is somewhat difficult to operate so that the surface of the wheel which contacts the leading end of the twist drill lies in a surface parallel to the axis of rotation of the shaft which supports the chuck. Alternatively, a dressing tool could be carried by the chuck support in the manner taught by the U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,450 issued May 12, 1969 to Boddgert. While this design eliminates some of the disadvantages of Hillier, it unnecessarily complicates the design of the chuck support. A further disadvantage of the apparatus shown in the Rabut patent is that it is difficult to provide for generally uniform wear of the grinding wheel. Thus, in order to present the leading end of the twist drill to different portions of the grinding surface of the grinding wheel, it is necessary to adjust either the frame which carriers the chuck or to longitudinally adjust the shaft about which the chuck is swung during the grinding of the twist drills. Another disadvantage of the Rabut construction is that the shaft about which the chuck rotates must be shifted toward and away from the axis of the grinding wheel during the grinding of the leading end of a twist drill and must be also shifted as the diameter of the grinding wheel varies. In order to maintain the proper geometry on the leading end of the twist drill during the grinding operation, it is therefore necessary to very accurately machine the bearings within the pivoting frame and the pivotal carrier, and it is also necessary to very accurately position the pivoting carrier on the frame during the grinding operation. An additional disadvantage of the Rabut construction is that it requires adjustment of the gauge and chuck for twist drills of different diameters. Also, the gauge of Rabut only initially positions the point of the twist drill and does not serve as a final gauge to properly locate the twist drill during the final grinding operation on the leading end. In this connection, it should be noted that it may sometimes be necessary to grind a large quantity away from the leading end of the twist drill, either because of severe wear on the leading end of the drill or because of a broken point. In this case, because the flutes are spirally disposed about the drill, the final position will not in any way correspond to the initially engaged position. While other gauges are well known in the prior art, as for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,614,370 issued Oct. 21, 1952 to Kapnick, devices of this type do not overcome the foregoing disadvantages. A further disadvantage of the Rabut construction is that it is not a self-contained unit and therefore must be mounted in such a manner that it can be driven from a power take-off shaft within the shop through a belt or the like.

This invention relates to a structural unit body having a pipe incorporated therein and adapted for use in conjunction with the interior and exterior finishing of a structure such as a wall and floor and to a structure assembled utilizing such structural unit bodies. The structural unit body of this invention comprises a flat box made of a dampproof material and having its outside covered with a metal net. The inside of the box is provided with a pipe permitting the passage of liquid and gas therethrough. The box is stuffed with a noncombustible material which encloses the pipe and the box is fixed to a frame. The whole of the frame except for a part thereof is plastered with or has applied thereto cement mortar. The present invention also relates to a structure assembled of the aforementioned structural unit bodies each having a pipe incorporated therein and which are connected to each other. One of the objects of providing a structural unit body having the pipe incorporated therein and the structure assembled with such structural unit bodies is to provide for the control of room temperature by passing hot water, cold water or hot air or cold air through the pipe incorporated into the unit body. This arrangement not only provides comfortable dwellings and structures that are adaptable to environmental conditions because they are less influenced by temperature and moisture from the outside while providing sound insulation properties, but also this arrangement is strong and durable because it is fireproof, resilient and solid. A description will hereinafter be set forth of an embodiment of this invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an apparatus for closing and sealing filled containers with a lid. The invention relates, more particularly, to an improvement in an apparatus for closing and sealing filled containers using preformed lids in which, for each container, a lid is moved beneath a sealing die, is temporarily held against its bottom by a vacuum, and is finally joined to a container under the influence of pressure and heat. In an apparatus for closing and sealing of the kind mentioned above, for example, the apparatus made known by the German Offenlegungsschrift (Laid Open Patent Application) No. 1,909,792, a lid is brought to the underside of a sealing die, it is sucked against it by vacuum, and then the sealing die presses the lid onto the container positioned beneath it. In this known apparatus, the lids are brought to the sealing die in the correct position by a pair of grippers so that the sealing die, in turn, correctly positions the lid on the container to be closed. The correctly positioned delivery of the lids is not always guaranteed, within the closing and sealing apparatus, in which the lid is pushed beneath the sealing die by means of a slide. In these known apparatuses, it can happen that the lid is aspirated to the sealing surface on the sealing die in a slightly displaced position. As a consequence, the containers are not correctly closed and become rejects.

The present invention relates to devices for harvesting plant stems sown in rows, in particular for a corn or maize ensilaging machine, in which at least one gatherer having two dividers comprises a cutting mechanism and two advancing devices provided in the respective dividers for the transfer of the cut stalks to a treating apparatus, the advancing devices comprising two parallel shafts which are forwardly and upwardly inclined, the respective front shafts of the advancing devices carrying at their lower end two rotary cutters contained in the same plane and rotating in opposite directions. The treating apparatus may be a thresher for shelling or a cutting rotor for chopping the harvest for a subsequent ensilage. A device of this type, described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,600,836, has the drawback that the cutters have a horizontal disposition and consequently require a drive through universal joints. Moreover, it imperfectly holds the severed stalks in the course of their transfer so that certain stalks are not taken up in the machine and are abandoned on the ground.

The present invention relates in general to a melon harvester and, more particularly, to a harvester for generally spherical melons, such as cantaloupes, honeydew melons, casabas, and the like, although the invention may be utilized for harvesting other, similar products. Melons are customarily grown on relatively wide, flat hills or ridges having irrigation ditches therebetween. At harvest time, workers go through the field picking the melons which are ready for harvest and rolling them into the ditches between the hills. The present invention relates to an apparatus for picking up such harvested melons and for delivering them to a truck, or other means of transport. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for picking up melons lying on the ground, comprising: a frame; wheeled means for supporting the frame; upwardly and rearwardly sloping means carried by the frame for conveying the melons upwardly and rearwardly to a melon receiving means, such as a transverse conveyor leading to a truck, or other melon transporting means; and means for delivering the melons to the melon conveying means, comprising laterally spaced coaxial tires mounted on the frame and engageable with the melons on the ground and adapted to roll them rearwardly.

The present invention relates to a new and improved method for influencing the ambient or surrounding conditions during open-end spinning as well as to a new and improved apparatus for the performance of the aforesaid method. Practical experience gained since the introduction of open-end spinning has shown that after commencing the spinning operation during a certain time period the number of yarn ruptures increases in an inexplainable manner. The determination that the number of yarn ruptures was relatively small at the start of the spinning operation led to the assumption that the cause of the increase in yarn rupture probably was attributable to the increasing contamination or soiling of the working surfaces of the spinning rotor or turbine. However, this assumption has not proven itself to be correct, although relatively frequent periodic cleaning of such working surfaces did bring with it a limited improvement. On the other hand, this pnenomenon cannot be prevented even by changing within permissible limits the climatic conditions of the spinning room with regard to temperature and humidity, quite apart from the fact that the number of yarn ruptures increases notwithstanding constant climatic conditions of the room, in other words, apparently the number of yarn ruptures increases independently of the climatic conditions.

In the removal of a filling yarn from a woven fabric, such for instance as a fabric woven on a double pick needle loom as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,225, there is an uneven flow rate of the filling as it is drawn from the fabric. In fact, the filling can become entangled in itself. Heretofore the handling of an uneven flow rate has been done by nip rolls to nip the yarn and control and even out the flow rate of the yarn and thus to even out the tension to the winding means. This does not control self-entanglement. Allowance must be made also for shrinkage of the filling yarns when exposed to elevated temperatures during dyeing, heat set and drying cycles and for bulking of the warp yarns. Further, slip spindle winders have been used, but the slippage of the spindle is not an even tension control and leads to numerous operating problems.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a clock timer, and more particularly to an improved vibrator control level mechanism which is actuated by both a 12 hour cam mechanism and a units mechanism to reliably and accurately release an alarm vibrator at the alarm time and a selector mechanism for controlling the alarm vibrator and a switch. 2. Description of the Prior Art Radio digital alarm clock timers are now known in the horological art. Such radio alarms are generally designed to close a switch at a pre-selected time, and a known timer of this type is shown in a recent U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,617 to Boyles and Polonsky dated Mar. 20, 1973, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. As shown in the patent, a rotatable units cam is positioned adjacent to a minutes display indicator for progressively actuating the minutes display indicator, a rotatable tens cam is spaced to the left of the units cam for actuating the tens of minutes display indicator and a rotatable hours cam is spaced to the left of the tens of minutes cam for actuating an hours display indicator. A pair of coaxially mounted gear driven cam members with one of the cam members being axially movable is utilized for operating a switch mechanism at a preset alarm time to turn on a radio or a similar appliance at the preset alarm time. This invention is concerned with the addition of a vibrator type alarm mechanism to such a clock timer which may be operated by the same mechanism which operates the switch for a radio and the display indicators of the clock. The prior art includes many different constructions and arrangements for controlling an audible alarm vibrator by itself or in combination with a switch for turning a radio ON and OFF. Some of these mechanisms are quite complex. My invention is concerned with a relatively simple alarm vibrator control mechanism for such a clock timer which may be inexpensively manufactured and readily incorporated in a digital clock of the type disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,617; however, it is to be understood that it may also be utilized in other digital clock timer mechanisms or hand-type clock timer mechanisms. Accordingly, it is a primary object of my invention to provide an improved reliable vibrator control mechanism for a clock timer which includes relatively few parts which may be readily manufactured and assembled to each other. It is also an object of my invention to provide a vibrator control mechanism which may be conveniently operated and which may be easily combined with a digital clock of the type disclosed in the above mentioned patent.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a clock timer, and more particularly to an improved vibrator control lever mechanism which is actuated by both a 12 hour cam mechanism and a units mechanism to reliably and accurately release an alarm vibrator at the alarm time and a repeat alarm mechanism which cooperates with the control lever mechanism to shut off the alarm for a short time interval. 2. Description of the Prior Art Radio digital alarm clock timers are now known in the horological art. Such radio alarms are generally designed to close a switch at a pre-selected time, and a known timer of this type is shown in a recent U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,617 to Boyles and Polonsky dated Mar. 20, 1973, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. As shown in the patent, a rotatable units cam is positioned adjacent to a minutes display indicator for progressively actuating the minutes display indicator, a rotatable tens cam is spaced to the left of the units cam for actuating the tens of minutes display indicator and a rotatable hours cam is spaced to the left of the tens of minutes cam for actuating an hours display indicator. A pair of coaxially mounted gear driven cam members with one of the cam members being axially movable is utilized for operating a switch mechanism at a preset alarm time to turn on a radio or a similar appliance at the preset alarm time. This invention is concerned with the addition of a vibrator type alarm mechanism to such a clock timer which may be operated by the same mechanism which operates the switch for a radio and the display indicators of the clock. The prior art includes many different constructions and arrangements for controlling an audible alarm vibrator by itself or in combination with a switch for turning a radio ON and OFF. Some of these mechanisms are quite complex. My invention is concerned with a relatively simple alarm vibrator control mechanism for such a clock timer which may be inexpensively manufactured and readily incorporated in a digital clock of the type disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,617; however, it is to be understood that it may also be utilized in other digital clock timer mechanisms or hand-type clock timer mechanisms. Accordingly, it is a primary object of my invention to provide an improved reliable vibrator control mechanism for a clock timer which includes relatively few parts which may be readily manufactured and assembled to each other. It is also an object of my invention to provide a vibrator control mechanism which may be conveniently operated and which may be easily combined with a digital clock of the type disclosed in the above mentioned patent.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to parking meters, and particularly to an improved digitally-controlled electronic parking meter. 2. General Description of the Prior Art Conventional parking meters are essentially coin-operated mechanical clocks. They are fairly expensive and require a good deal of service to properly maintain them. Their efficiency insofar as financial return is concerned is seriously impeded by virtue of the fact that the unused time by one motorist may be used by a second motorist without further payment. It is the object of the present invention to overcome these deficiecies.

1. Field of Invention This invention relates to augmentation burning in a mixed flow turbofan engine and more particularly to such a construction in which vorbix burning principles are used. 2. Description of the Prior Art In the turbojet engine art, combustion takes place in the main combustion chamber between the compressor and the turbine of the engine and may also take place downstream of the turbine in the afterburner portion of the engine. In the early combustion art in turbojet engines, combustion was sustained in the main combustion chamber by establishing a recirculation zone as in Clark U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,206, Brown U.S. Pat. No. 2,676,460, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,560,207 to Berggren. In the afterburner art it was conventional to use flameholders of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,702,452. From these types of combustion apparatus, the art advanced to the swirl burner principles taught in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,788,065 and 3,701,255, and divisions thereof, and to the vorbix burning principle taught in my pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 406,771 filed October 15, 1973. In turbofan engines of the mixed flow design in which fan air and the engine exhaust gases flow in a common exhaust duct, the engine cycle has a high temperature rise so that it is only practical to perform augmentation combustion in the fan air stream and by utilizing apparatus which produces minimum loss. Special and unique combustion problems are encountered in such augmentation combustion and the teaching herein is to sustain augmentation combustion in such a turbofan engine utilizing the vorbix burning principles.

This invention relates to a nuclear power plant, the reactor being of the pressurized-water coolant type and its coolant being circulated through a steam generator having a feed water inlet and in which the feed water generates steam which is used to power a steam engine, such as a turbine, having a low pressure stage and a high pressure stage, the mechanical rotary power produced by the turbine driving a generator producing electric power, for example. The steam generator is in the form of a vertical cylindrical casing containing a horizontal circular tube sheet in which the ends of the vertical legs of an inverted U-shaped nest of heat exchanging tubes are mounted, the casing below this tube sheet being constructed to form a coolant inlet manifold for the inlet end of the tube nest, and a coolant outlet manifold for the outlet end of the next. The manifolds are in circuit with the coolant circuit of the reactor, the coolant 2 passing through the tube nest. The casing extends above the tube sheet and its upper portion is provided with a steam outlet, a feed water inlet supplying feed water to the casing above the tube sheet and which vaporizes and generates steam. The feed water must be pumped into the casing against the steam pressure by one or more feed water pumps and the feed water is introduced to the water already in the casing, through a feed water reheater inside of the casing and receiving heat from the outlet leg of the tube nest. Above the tube nest the steam generator's casing contains at least one water separator for removing water from the generated steam before leaving the steam generator, and possibly a coarse water separator followed by a fine water separator. The steam from the steam generator goes to the high pressure stage of a turbine, the exhaust from there then going through a reheater and to a low pressure stage of the turbine, the exhaust of which is handled in a normal manner. The above steam reheater is a heat exchanger of the counter flow type requiring a supply of hot fluid, and this supply has heretofore been steam taken from the output of the steam generator, thus placing on the latter an extra load above that required to power the turbine. When the turbine load changed unstable operation was possible, condensate shock or backup of the steam condensate discharged from the reheater necessitating the reheater being designed as a heat exchanger of larger size when might otherwise have been necessary. Also, the additional load on the steam generator required the latter to be operated at higher capacity, placing undesirable stress on the steam lines and fittings and on the water separators within the steam generator. Because more steam was required than was necessary to power the turbine, more feed water had to be constantly introduced to the steam generator, requiring a larger capacity feed water pump than what otherwise would have been necessary. Using steam as the heating medium for the reheater, the latter had to be provided a condensate cooler for the exhausting steam, a condensate decompressor and other equipment. Because of the need for additional steam required by the reheater, a larger amount of water was required to be boiled off in the steam generator, leaving undesirable deposits of salts and the like unavoidably included by the feed water. To constantly circulate the water in the steam generator, the latter had to be provided with an annular descent space surrounding the tube nest with its lower end spaced above the tube sheet to provide for thermal circulation, requiring the generator casing to be larger and therefore more expensive. During start-up and shut-down of the nuclear reactor, a complicated system of multiple emergency feed water pump equipment, emergency feed water lines and deionate supply tanks, were required to remove the residual heat via the steam generator functioning as a heat exchanger.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention is directed generally to underground manhole assemblies and more particularly to a method and arrangement for preventing the assembly from moving upwards in response to a change in surrounding soil conditions. 2. Discussion of the Prior Art As is generally known, manhole assemblies are often provided as a juncture for joining underground sewer pipes which extend in different directions therefrom. Typically, a manhole assembly will include a base which sits directly against the soil beneath it. In relatively dry or warm climates, the soil surrounding the manhole assembly and particularly the soil beneath its base will remain in an unfrozen and/or unexpanded state. However, in moist climates where freeze and thaw conditions prevail, moisture directly beneath and directly against the manhole assembly tends to freeze, causing the soil to expand in an upward direction against the base of the manhole assembly. This, in turn, can force the assembly towards ground level. When the frozen soil thaws, the side pressures exerted against the assembly prevent the ladder from moving back to its original position and eventually there is further soil build-up beneath the base. Hence, at the next freeze period, this procedure is repeated. While each increment of upward movement of the assembly is small, after many freeze-thaw cycles, the entire manhole assembly can move upwards a substantial distance. The foregoing creates two major problems. Firstly, if the manhole assembly is located beneath a street or sidewalk, which is generally the case, upward movement of the assembly can cause substantial damage to the street or sidewalk. This, of course, can create hazardous conditions. Secondly, since the manhole acts as an extension or juncture to sewer pipes, substantial movement of the manhole produces misalignment which, in turn, interferes with the otherwise smooth flow through the sewer pipes. This, in turn, can produce a pressure problem within the sewer pipes and also can create a static condition within the latter, causing sewage to settle in the manhole, thereby creating a maintenance problem. The aforedescribed freeze-thaw conditions can also exist along the sides of the manhole assembly. In this regard, many manhole assemblies are constructed in sections which are stacked on top of one another. It has been discovered that ice along the periphery of a given section of the assembly, during the freeze cycle, grips the assembly section as the ice expands and raises the section upward. As this occurs, gravel and/or other debris may collect between the raised section and the section directly below it, preventing the raised section from returning to its normal position. After many freeze-thaw cycles, the overall upward movement of any given manhole section may be substantial, resulting in the same problems discussed above.

The present invention refers to a reinforced concrete pile of the type having a collar or similar fitting at least at one of its end, to which axially running reinforcing bars are attached. The invention also refers to a method of manufacturing such piles, as well as to the collar provided at the pile. The collars fitted at one or both ends of a concrete pile, may be shaped as points, shoes or joint elements, and must be attached to the pile in such a manner that they can also take care of tensile strain loads in the pile. Hitherto the attaching of the collar has usually been made by means of anchor bolts, threaded into the collar and arranged parallel to the axial reinforcing bars in the pile. The anchor bolts usually have length of about one meter, and as many bolts as axial reinforcing bars are provided, fitted intermediate the ends thereof. Hereby a rather tight basket structure is obtained, which makes the introduction of the concrete compound at the ends of the pile difficult. When such a pile is subjected to tensile strain the axial forces cannot be transferred directly from the reinforcing bars to the collar, but must pass over to the anchor bolts by way of the concrete. This is not well suited for such action, so the actual transfer capacity is limited. Similarly the power strokes, when driving the pile, will largely have to be transferred from the anchor bolts to the reinforcing bars by way of the concrete. It has been proposed to weld the axial reinforcing bars to the collar, but on the one end such welding will not provide the necessary strength, and on the other hand the collar is often made of nodular cast iron and the reinforcing bars of high class steel, so a welding will be generally difficult. For a long time a desire to attach the reinforcing bars directly to the collar has been felt, but no simple, reliable solution has been found.

I. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to dynamic ballast and stabilization systems for deep-sea applications, and, in particular, the present invention relates to a dynamic ballast and stabilization system for off-shore platform structures. II. Description of the Prior Art To be both practical and useful, off-shore platforms utilized for the exploration and production of crude oil and gas sources must not only perform a desired function but do so under adverse operating conditions. Primarily among such conditions is a virtually unpredictable source of trouble at any off-shore platform by the continuously changing pattern of wave intensity which reflects widespread weather conditions. For example, weather situations in one part of the world may have a decided effect on the water and wave conditions in a remote section thousands of miles away. In the design and construction of off-shore platforms most weather conditions can be accounted for through the expediency of fabricating the platform of sufficient strength to satisfactorily support the required constant and expected load and to overcome and to resist the most adverse storm conditions. Thus, a platform might be engineered to be sufficiently rugged by sheer massiveness to resist hurricane forces at the water surface without collapse or even to avoid excessive damage. The ideal situation would be to design the platforms to safely resist maximum forces as would be instituted by a hurricane or other severe storm. What is more difficullt to overcome, however, is the problem instituted by the pulsating forces resulting from periodic wave movement. While such movement may be particularly intense, the periodic forces generated by the waves may be of such frequency that, if counted over a period of time, will prompt and amplify an oscillatory movement of the floor-anchored platform structure. This vibrational tendency will be a function of the platform structure and the intensity and frequency of the wave forces. While it is possible through engineering techniques to adequately design a platform to overcome the normal and expected wave forces, it is highly impractical in both structural and economical terms to design a platform when vibration and oscillation forces are taken into consideration. It can be readily appreciated that for platforms usable in deep waters the design problems are sharply aggravated as the platform height increases. For example, for extreme depths having an order of magnitude of 400 to 1,000 feet, it is virtually impossible to design and engineer a safe, practical platform. To overcome constantly imposed vibrations or oscillation inducing forces as well as the ordinary natural forces acting against an off-shore platform structure, many expedients have been resorted to such as internal bracing and external anchoring. In the absence of the latter, structures in relatively deep water often utilize an anchoring system including chains and cables both of which elements present troublesome handling problems and are not entirely effective. Furthermore, since the present trend in oil exploratory and production efforts is towards deeper waters, and anchoring systems tend to become more expensive and unwieldly, thereby amplifying the above-noted susceptibility to sway and vibrational tendencies. An example of one solution of the aforementioned problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,553,968.

Double-wall vessels are commonly provided for the storage of low-temperature liquefied gases under pressure or at standard or ambient pressure, with suitable means for insulating the space between the two walls or shells of the vessel. In an early version, such vessels were provided in accordance with Dewar principles and consisted of inner and outer shells or walls defining a space between them which was maintained under a high vacuum to prevent the development of convection currents tending to cause heat transfer from the outer wall to the inner wall or cold loss from the interior to the exterior. The or each wall could be provided with a highly reflective coating to prevent radiation transfer of energy between the interior and the exterior. Such systems had the obvious disadvantage that loss of the vacuum in the space between the two walls caused an immediate breakdown of the insulation space and substantial heat transfer between interior and exterior. Such heat transfer is disadvantageous for the storage of low-temperature liquefied gases at ambient pressure, causing substantially immediate vaporization of the liquefied gas. It has been proposed to modify such systems for the storage of such liquefied gases as hydrogen and helium at temperatures below about 30.degree.K by providing within the evacuated space between the two walls, a so-called superinsulation consisting of alternating layers of woven or nonwoven fabric web of low thermal conductivity and metal foil layers. The interstices of the fabric web further reduce convective flow of heat while the metal foil constitutes a reflection barrier to radiation transfer. While such systems are effective for the purposes stated, they are relatively expensive and difficult to manufacture and are highly sensitive to handling of the vessel. Furthermore, there is the disadvantage that leakage of the vacuum will occur and render the system ineffective. With gases such as hydrogen and helium even the slightest loss of insulating capacity can result in spontaneous vaporization of the stored liquid. With the development of improved techniques for the storage, transport and utilization of liquefied gas, relatively low cost systems have been devised for insulating vessel and compartments containing the liquefied gas. One such system makes use of a filling of perlite, a porous insulator in the space between the two walls of a double wall vessel. This system, while effective for such relatively high-boiling liquefied gases as methane, are not suitable in the prior-art technique for use in the storage of hydrogen or helium in a liquid state because of thermal leakage and the effects of the heat capacity of the perlite.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to well known plastic molded generally flexible ice cube trays and more particularly to such a tray having protruberances on opposing corners of each individual ice cube forming pocket to alter the ice cube upon its release from the tray to the extent that it will not be reseated in the tray in its as-molded orientation. 2. Description of the Prior Art Flexible plastic ice cube trays are well known in the prior art. Such flexible trays have the advantage of being relatively inexpensively molded from a plastic such as polypropylene that easily releases the ice cubes once the initial adhesion force established during freezing is broken. To do this, the tray is generally grasped at each end and twisted to the extent there is sufficient flexing of each individual pocket to release the cube. However, after such flexing, if the cubes are to remain in the tray as opposed to the tray being dumped into a separate storage bin, the cubes settle back into their respective pockets and assume the as-molded orientation providing generally continuous smooth surfaces between the tray and the ice cubes making it difficult to manually grasp any individual cube to remove it. One manner of altering the cube orientation with respect to the pocket of an ice cube tray is to utilize the expansive forces of freezing to move the cube to an accessible position with respect to the tray while it remains therein. Such is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,025,682 and 2,704,927. The present invention however, provides certain stress concentrating structure in each pocket so that upon flexing the tray each individual cube is caused to fracture to the extent its outward dimension is altered so that it will not be reseated in its as-molded orientation. This produces a generally discontinuous surface between the cubes and the tray permitting each cube to be individually grasped.

This invention relates generally to ice making and storage apparatus and more particularly, to an ice transport system for conveying ice between remotely located ice producing machines and storage containers or bins. It has heretofore been the practice to communicate ice which is produced, for example, by means of a flaked ice machine, to a remotely located storage chamber through an elongated continuous hose or conduit. Such hoses or conduits have been satisfactory from the standpoint of providing for a smooth, uninterrupted communication of ice; however, such continuous conduits have been objectionable from a maintenance and cleaning standpoint due to the fact that it is extremely difficult to effectively clean relatively long sections of conduit so as to satisfy the rigorous sanitary standards imposed by federal, state and municipal regulatory authorities. The applicant's conduit structure will find particularly useful application in that the structure is designed so as to be compatible with conventional conduit couplings which must be secured to relative linear, i.e., non-curved, conduit sections. Toward this end, the applicant's conduit structure is designed such that it may be severed at an intermediate portion thereof to provide two conduit elements, each of which is adapted to provide for a change in direction, as well as provide for convenient assembly or operative association with the standard conduit coupling assemblies. It is accordingly a general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved ice transport system. It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a new and improved ice transport system for use in flaked ice producing and storing systems. It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved conduit structure for use in ice transport systems which minimizes back pressure resistance to the extreme and provides for compatible assembly of the conduit structure with coupling assemblies of the type well known in the art. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved conduit structure which is of a simple design, is economical to manufacture and will have long and durable operational life. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved conduit structure that will find universality of application in various types of ice making machines.

The present invention relates to an axially-displaceable and angularly-movable, evenly-running universal coupling, in which the torque is transmitted by three rolling parts which are distributed equiangularly. The rolling parts are connected to the inner part of the coupling in a rotatable and radially movable manner. The rolling parts, furthermore, project into grooves in the outer part of the coupling, which are straight and parallel to the axis. To achieve even running, the displacement of the rolling parts required during an angular movement is accomplished with the aid of a force, pushing the rolling part outward. This force is a spring derived or spring-actuated force. Universal couplings of the preceding species and known in the art, have the inner part of the coupling constructed of three-legged form. In this arrangement, so-called thrust stones are supported on the corresponding studs, in a slidable and rotatable manner for torque transmission. In contrast to the prior art, in which the thrust stones are coated with relatively thin discs of elastic material, an arrangement disclosed in the German Patent No. 2,216,345 operates in the following manner: For exerting an outward-directed force on the thrust stones, a ring is provided on one or both sides of the three-legged structure. This ring is in contact with each of the thrust stones when force is exerted parallel to the axis of each. The difficulty of arriving at an effective solution with the aid of elastic discs, in the prior art, has been extensively described in a review of the state of the art in the German Patent No. 2,216,345. The arrangement disclosed by this German patent, has the disadvantage of requiring costlier construction and manufacture, and it is also associated with the danger that breakage of the highly-stressed rings could cause the pieces to destroy the universal coupling. The two arrangements above of the prior art, also have the common disadvantage that the relatively large controlling force applied by the spring elements, does not act near the center of the axis of rotation of the thrust stones. Instead, the force acts substantially far out therefrom. A large braking torque results, thereby, and the thrust stones, prevented from rotating, cause wear, heating, and ineffectiveness. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a universal coupling of the character described above, and which avoids the disadvantages mentioned supra. Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal coupling of the foregoing character, which is simple in design and may be economically fabricated. A still further object of the present invention is to provide a universal coupling, as described, which has a substantially long operating life and may be readily maintained.

The present invention relates to an equalizing and compensating coupling for transfer of large torques, and more particularly the invention relates to a coupling interposed between the output shaft of a transmission gear and the propellor shaft of a ship. Couplings used for transmission of large torques, particularly in ships drive systems, may have primary and secondary parts which have coaxial disposition to each other and to the respective axis of the couplings, and the two parts are interconnected by rubber-elastic elements. In a particular construction, a coupler sleeve may be interposed, and the primary and secondary clutch parts each connect to the sleeve through these resilient elements. It is, however, necessary to consider the operating conditions for such a clutch or coupling in some detail. If the transmission of the ships drive is located near the stern, the propeller shaft will be rather short and exhibit rather high flexural stiffness and bending strength. On the other hand the higher strength of sheet metal as it is used for construction of ships hulls today permits employment of thinner sheet stock for that purpose so that the hulls are more resilient. Such increase in resiliency is particularly noticeable in the stern because the buyoncy differs for different loads. The resulting change in shape of the hull must not influence the position of the ship's drive generally and must not cause any change in gearing operation. Ships gears are quite heavy, and for this reason they cannot merely be connected to the respective propeller shaft. Rather, the transmission must be mounted in some fashion to the frame of the ship. If, however, the propellor shaft moves with flexing of the hull, displacement of gear parts must be expected and has, in fact, been observed. Several different solutions have been advanced to solve that problem. In accordance with a first solution, a thrust bearing is directly connected to the transmission gear; the latter has a small base bolted to the base of the thrust bearing. The base of the thrust bearing has usually significant strength. In accordance with a second solution to the problem thrust bearing and transmission are separated, and the transmission is solely responsible for radially guiding the propellor shaft. Any vertical displacements of the bases of the thrust bearing and of the transmission gear is to be compensated in that manner. In accordance with a third solution the transmission is mounted on level controlled cylinders so that changes in the location of its base are not transmitted to the transmission. Finally, it has been proposed to provide a transversely displaceable jaw clutch between propeller shaft and gearing, which clutch does not only transfer torque but compensates also for disposition changes as between thrust bearing and gearing. All of these proposals for solving the problem have one drawback or another and are, therefore, not quite suitable, at least not to the desired extent. A small base in accordance with the first proposal leads invariably to overhanging parts, particularly in twin gear systems. Moreover, a small base is not well suited to take up the reaction forces if the power transmitted is quite large. The separation of transmission and thrust bearing in accordance with the second proposed solution may suffice in the case of vertical, mutual displacement, but not when the angle between propeller shaft and transmission output shaft tends to change. The levelled positioning of the transmission casing, also known as active positioning, is very complicated and too amenable to break down. The final solution was found to cause increasing stiffening of the jaw clutch with increasing torque while for low torques the clutch my start to rattle.

For a long time, universal joints of the type comprising telescopically overlapped yoke members, interconnected by a centrally disposed coupling block carrying pivot pins or stub shafts rotationally received in either the block or the yoke members, have been utilized for transmitting rotational drive from one line shaft to another in a drive train where requirements call for axial misalignment of the line shafts. The torque loads to which such universal joints are subjected are commonly rather high, resulting in rapid mechanical wear at points of pivotal movement, especially if there is much articulation of the coupling block due to substantial axial offset of the interconnected shafts. Considerable effort has been directed to designing low-frictional pivots for the joints, as by use of needle bearings and through improvement in lubrication of the pivot points. Compactness of size of the universal joint in order to reduce inertia and momentum effects, as well as to mechanically accommodate a higher degree of misalignment of the coupled shafts, dictates against increasing the size of the universal joint to permit enlarging the bearing surfaces. Even with low friction bearing design and improved lubrication, an undesirably high rate of wear has often been unavoidable. A worn universal joint produces inefficient and inexact transmission of torsional load due to backlash or play at the pivot points. This necessitates either complete replacement of the universal joint, an economically expensive solution, or repair and rebuilding of the worn joint. The designs of universal joints heretofore proposed do not permit easy, inexpensive rebuilding or repair by semi-skilled routine maintenance personnel who usually are the only immediately available personnel at the point of use.

The present invention relates generally to the knitting machine art, and more particularly, is directed to a circular knitting machine having a self-balancing bobbin table. Circular knitting machines of the multi-feed type include means to mount a plurality of yarn supply bobbins thereon, at least one supply bobbin being provided for each feed. The bobbins are mounted outwardly from the central machine axis and may be arranged at the outer end of radially oriented arms which radiate outwardly from a central mounting hub which is concentric with and which rotates about the axis of the machine. Optionally, the yarn supply bobbins may be mounted upon a solid, disc like table similar to that disclosed in my copending patent application Ser. No. 283,787, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,433. Due to the speed of rotation of prior art bobbin mounting means, any unbalance in the system construction will result in unwanted vibration, the imposition of unbalanced forces or other unwanted unbalanced conditions which interfere with quiet, trouble-free operation and which can result in undue bearing wear, fatigue cracks and other mechanical failures.

The invention relates to plating feeders for use in circular knitting machines and in particular knitting machines having arrangements for exchanging feeders during knitting. Plating may be effected by feeding a pair of individual yarns with one yarn having a lead over the other at a plating angle. The plating angle is critical and requires the yarns to be fed along converging paths from the feeder. Separate mouths are provided on plating feeders for each of the yarns which are spaced from one another. Feeders on knitting machines may be exchanged during knitting. This involves moving the feeder, trapping and cutting the yarn to separate the last part of the knitted yarn from the feeder, when taking a feeder out of action. When inserting a feeder, the exchange involves laying the yarn between the active needles or licking the new yarn into the hooks of the needles by means of latches. When applying plating feeders to machines having facilities for exchanging feeders, the requirement for separate and spaced feeder mouths conflicts with the need for precise location of the last part of the knitting yarn for trapping and cutting and of the new yarn for initially feeding it to the needles. In double cylinder machines the problem is more acute as feeder movement up or down is restricted by the cylinders and the only free movement used in exchanging feeders is in a direction tangential to the cylinders. Another problem arises when plating during reciprocation of a circular machine. In that case the plating angle must be reversed when reversing the direction of knitting so as to maintain the yarns in proper relationship. Whatever the application of a plating feeder, it should also be capable of adjusting the plating angle to adapt it to different requirements. The adjustment is often critical and requires great skill. It is an object of the invention to provide a plating feeder or a method of control of such a feeder which enables it to be exchanged for another feeder. It is a further object to provide a plating feeder suitable for use in reciprocatory plating and which is easily adjustable. It is also an object to provide such plating feeders which may be used on double cylinder machines.

The field of this invention relates to locking devices and more particularly to a locking device for a vehicle gasoline filler pipe cap. Gasoline, which is the most common fuel for operating vehicles, is rapidly becoming a commodity in short supply. Due to the shortness of supply, the cost of gasoline has substantially increased. Because of these two factors, the unauthorized syphoning of gasoline from vehicles is becoming quite common. Almost all private and commercial vehicles employ a gasoline filler pipe within the vehicle which connects to the gasoline tank. The filler pipe is normally closed by a gasoline cap. It is not uncommon for a person to remove this gasoline cap and syphon gasoline from the gasoline tank. In the past, there has been substantial effort expended on the designed of a structure which will prevent the unauthorized syphoning of gasoline from the vehicle. One such prior art apparatus is a spring which fits within the filler pipe. The spring will permit gasoline to be conducted into the gasoline tank but will prevent any syphoning hose from moving into the tank. However, such springs have been found to have one major disadvantage in that they tend to restrict the flow of fuel into the vehicle. As a result, it takes a substantial longer period of time to fill the gasoline tank of the vehicle than was previously required. One other common type of prior art device is a gasoline cap which includes a key actuated locking mechanism. Such gasoline caps, because of the included locking mechanism, are quite expensive when compared to a conventional gasoline cap. As a result, there has never been a wide spread use of a gasoline cap which includes therein a key actuated locking device.

This invention is for a new and improved lock and support device, and more particularly, to a lock and support device having a valve cap, a valve cap locking bar to secure the valve cap on a fuel tank, and a lock connecting portion or ring for providing a means to hold the fuel tank in an upright secured position and for providing a means to lock the tank to a fixed object. In the past fuel tanks have been positioned in an upright position by standing them on their bases. Fuel tanks have been secured to fixed objects by wrapping chains around them or providing specially made tank racks. Fuel tanks are easily knocked over if left unsecured to a fixed object. Fuel tanks that are not held in an upright position are safety hazards.

Straightening machines have been proposed including those operating on a planetary principle. One straightening machine for poppet valves included two rotary dies of similar diameter with spaced axes and slightly different peripheral speeds engaging the stem of the poppet valve so that the workpiece passed between the nip of the die rollers. One die roller had a straightening disc freely journalled coaxially thereon to engage the underside of the head of the poppet valve as the valve gradually passed through the nip. Any wobble to the head of the poppet valve was removed by engagement with the free running straightening disc. Such prior art machine had the difficulty of not being able to satisfactorily control the attitude of the workpiece because of the limited area of contact of the workpiece stem with the two separated roller dies, both of which have convex faces. The poppet valve stem would easily become cocked at an angle other than parallel to the two roller dies, especially because of the unbalanced force caused by the straightening disc cyclically engaging the poppet valve head. The problem to be solved then is how to establish a flanged stem workpiece straightening machine to overcome this deficiency. An object of the invention is to provide a straightening machine for flanged stem workpieces wherein the workpiece is securely held during travel through the machine. Another object of the invention is to provide a straightening machine wherein a flange of a stemmed workpiece is cyclically bent more and more to a midpoint of a die and is then bent in decreasing amounts until the flange is straight, namely, perpendicular to the stem. Another object of the invention is to provide a straightening machine wherein the flange of the stemmed workpiece moves in a first path and a straightening roller moves in a second path intersecting the first path so as to engage and bend the workpiece. Another object of the invention is to provide a straightening machine wherein the phase position of a straightening roller relative to a workpiece flange is gradually changed so that the straightening roller engages and straightens the workpiece flange. Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

1. Field of the Invention The invention is directed to the field of tools for metal forming and the like. 2. Description of the Prior Art In the field of die assemblies adapted for use in crimping or otherwise deforming metallic terminals for joining or splicing articles to one another, two principle modes of operation are generally utilized. The more conventional devices generally comprise a pair of mating die members movable towards one another along a common axis to provide a given compressive force to a deformable terminal or like element seated therebetween. Proliferous examples of such die assemblies may be found in the prior art and are sufficiently well known to those skilled in the art. The other mode of operation utilizes longitudinal displacement of the connector through a restrictive orifice to extrudably deform the terminal or connector about one or more contained wires or conductors. An example of such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,470 issued June 19, 1973 to applicant and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention. In the latter method, the terminal must be fabricated from special material which must be extrudably deformable without fracture or damage occurring thereto in order to preserve the integrity of the connection. Furthermore, by virtue of the extrusion process, both the terminal and enclosed wires are elongated and reduced in cross-section to a significant degree upon completion of the operation, a condition which may be undesirable in many applications where the cross-sectional area of the completed joint or connection is of principle importance. The former conventional method of direct crimping, although used quite successfully in many applications, has the distinct drawback of requiring relatively high crimping forces when employed with the larger size conductors and associated terminals, thereby requiring the use of relatively bulky and expensive drive sources for use therewith. In many cases where such connections must be made in remote locations removed from a worksite, convenience of portability may become a major factor in the use thereof, whereby the weight and size of such prior art devices may seriously limit their applicability under such conditions.

The present invention relates generally to tube drawing and more particularly, it relates to plug rolling mills for drawing seamless tubes and taking them off a plug after drawing over the long movable plug. As compared with other types of tube drawing operations, tube drawing on long movable plugs has an important advantage, namely, the possibility of attaining considerable tube reduction per pass and drawing tubes (with wall reduction) of small diameters (down to capillary ones). A main disadvantage of this method of drawing tubes on a long movable plug, restricting its application, is a need for labor-consuming additional technological operations, such as: plugging the drawn tube over the plug for withdrawing the latter out of the tube and the plug extraction process as such. Mills for plugging tubes and taking them off a long movable plug after drawing are known in the art, comprising a plug head adapted to plug the tubes over the plug with the aid of idle tube-reducing members, a pulling device with guides for moving pulling elements therealong, the elements drawing the tube with the plug through the plug head, a gear for taking the tubes off the plug, two pockets wherein the tubes and plugs are placed after the tubes have been taken off the plugs and a drive for the pulling device. The known designs of the mills aimed at further improvement of the long-lug drawing process as regards tube plugging and taking them off the plugs comprise, as a rule, apart from a drawing line, two additional working lines parallel with one another, namely, a tube plugging line and another line for taking the tubes off the plug. Mills comprising two pulling devices arranged in line are also applicable, with one of the pulling devices being adapted in this case for pulling the tube together with the plug through a plug arrangement and the other one for extracting the plug from the tube. The time needed for returning the plug (after the tube has been taken off) to the drawing mill is an important factor governing the production rate of the plugging and drawing mills. When using two additional working lines or a single working line with two pulling devices, the flow sheets related to plugging and taking the tubes off the plug envisage periodical stoppage of the mills, reversal of the tube travelling with the plug or turning the plug with the tube through 180.degree.. The above additional operations diminish materially the production of both the plugging and drawing mills. On the known mills for extracting the plugs from the tubes use is made of thrust plates with a calibrated opening, forks or clamps of the pulling devices gripping the tube fore part on one side and the plug end on the other. The above operations involved in the extraction of the plugs from the tubes are responsible for the appearance of various defects on the tubes (scratches, galling, corrugation) and for the sticking of tube metal to the plugs. The arrangement of equipment for plugging and taking the tubes off the plugs when using two additional lines or a single additional working line with two pulling devices requires considerable floor area. For further general details of a typical -- plug rolling mill -- see: The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel, Chapter XXIX, Manufacturing of Steel - Tubular Products, pp. 1150-1152; a complete revision based on the original text by J. M. Camp and C. B. Francis, Sixth Ed., 2nd Impression, published by United States Steel Company, Copyright 1951 by U.S. Steel Company.

It is well known that the productive capacity of a multiple wire-rod rolling mill train is mainly determined by four factors; it depends on the base cross section of the billet within the roughing line, on the length of the billets entering the roughing line, on the number of rolling lines, and finally on the rod delivery speed. Practical experience, however, has indicated that certain problems are encountered with all these factors during the operation of a continuous rod mill. The base cross-section of the billets on a multi-pass rod train are subject to the so-called Konti law and cannot be made of unlimited size, because each enlargement of the billet also requires an increase in number and a reduced billet entrance speed into the pre-roll line. For that reason not only is the passing time of the billet through the entire rolling train extended (which has an unfavorable influence on the heat balance) but lowering the entrance speed into the pre-roll line under 0.07 m/sec. presents the additional danger of creating heat cracks on the rolls. The length of the rolled billets may theoretically be of any dimension, because billets from a given base cross section may as a practical matter be welded to any length. This type of operation, however, is not practical when a multi-wire rod train is to be used. The delivery speed can theoretically be increased. Practically, however, there are limits, because the necessary auxiliary equipment such as shears, reels, etc. at the end of the train can operate safely (in the present state of the art) only up to maximum output speed of 60 m/sec. Finally, the number of rolling lines cannot be chosen arbitrarily based on the machinery available; the limit with today's state of development lies in a four-line train. There have been made several attempts to operate multi-line trains to obtain high production capacity and large bundle weights. For example, in German patent DT-OS No. 1,527,694 a continuous light-section steel train was revealed and has, following a furnace, a roughing train, intermediate train, and finish train, wherein the rough train and/or the intermediate train each have a single rolling line operation, but the finish train is arranged for multi-strand rolling operation and wherein each line has an added special bundle storage. The bundle storage is interchangeably supplied from the intermediate train with a rod line and is designed as after-furnace or equalization-furnace. In that way the roughing train and the intermediate train can be driven independently of the rolling speed of the finish train and the bundle storage acts as a buffer for the finish train. The base cross section of the billet entering the roughing train can thereby be enlarged without the entrance speed into the roughing train being lowered below the critical speed of 0.07 m/sec., because of the fact that the after-furnace or equalization-furnace operates as a buffer, so that the so-called Konti law is not operative. A multi-strand roll train which is similar with respect to the after- or equalization-furnaces, but somewhat modified, has been taught by German patent DT-AS No. 1,808,822. In the arrangement shown in that patent the after- or equalization-furnace is positioned between the roughing train and the intermediate train, so that, instead of a bundle storage, a roll-through storage is provided. The multi-strand line operation also begins here in the intermediate train of the mill. In spite of the fact that these known, continuous multi-strand trains provide an intermediate storage by the provision of the after- or equalization-furnace located in an area between one or the other successive rolling lines allow the so-called Konti law to be inoperative and thereby the possibility is presented of introducing billets into the roughing train with a base cross section of approximately 180 mm with an entrance speed of at least 0.07 m/sec., nevertheless, considerable disadvantage is still present with these known designs. Since obviously the achieveable pass reduction within the individual roller stands is limited, practically every increase of the base bar cross section requires a certain increase in the number of stands, at least within the roughing train. In case one achieves a high production capacity with large bundle weights by replacing the standard billet cross section of 100 mm with an enlarged billet cross section of 180 mm, then the plant investment for the roughing train line is more than doubled. Because of the increase in the number of stands, an extension of the roughing train is necessary, and, consequently, a longer shop for the housing of the machinery is also required. Additionally, the after- or equalization-furnaces (which serve as intermediate storage) have to be introduced into the mill to guarantee constant temperatures of the rod stock during intermediate storage; this introduction also increases still further the total expenditure because of the corresponding necessary increase of the length of the shop. The design of the intermediate storage as after- or equalization-furnace has, in addition to the increased energy expenditure, the disadvantage that the after-heating of the rod leads to the danger of scale formation. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention. It is, therefore, the object of the present invention not only to eliminate all the disadvantages previously described in continuous multi-strand rod rolling mills, but also make it possible to use billets of large base cross section for achieving high production output and larger bundle weights. Another object of this invention is to create a multi-strand rod rolling mill with high production capacity to produce large bundle weights, the mill having a furnace after which is provided a roughing train and a separate intermediate and finish train for each individual rod rolling line and using intermediate and finish train as used in rolling with the classic billet cross section of, for example, 100 mm and capable within the roughing train of rolling large billet cross sections up to 200 mm with a minimum number of stands without the entrance speed of the billets going below the critical speed of 0.07 m/sec. and without an increase in billet residence time in the roughing train, which increase could endanger the entire heat balance in the rod rolling mill. With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

Drawn and ironed can bodies are conventionally formed while carried on a punch through a set of dies including at least one ironing ring which thins and lengthens the side wall. This operation is repeated through the same set of dies at the rate of more than 100 can bodies per minute. One problem is to supply cooling and lubricating liquid to assist in the ironing operation, and to avoid build-up of aluminum oxide on the ironing ring to the point where it scratches the exterior surface of the can body side wall.

1. Field of the Invention: This invention relates to the area of liquid chromatography and specifically to continuous detection of viscosity of column effluent in such systems. 2. Description of the Prior Art Liquid chromatography pertains to a particular variety of equipment and techniques for analyzing the components of an unknown sample of liquid material. Liquid chromatography is a process wherein a sample having unknown components is forced to migrate through an elongated "column." The column contains a material held statically inside it, called a "stationary phase." The stationary phase is chosen for its ability to selectively retain the various potential components of the sample with which it comes in contact with differing degrees of tenacity. The sample is forced to migrate through the column by injecting it into a solvent upstream of the column and subsequently pumping the solvent and dissolved sample through the column. When the dissolved sample is forced through the column, each of its components migrates through the column in a particular time related pattern, which pattern is a function of the degree of the tendency of the stationary phase to retain that component. Some properties of the column effluent are affected by the concentration of sample in the emergent fluid. One of the properties which may be affected is the viscosity of the effluent. By detecting variations in this property of the effluent, and plotting these variations against time, certain information can be derived as to the nature and amount of the components in the sample. For example, for predetermined column conditions and flow rate, it may be known that a particular hypothetical component, if present in the sample, will reach a maximum concentration in the column effluent at a specific time following introduction of the sample to the column. This time is known as the "retention time" of the component. This phenomenon occurs because of the existence of the particular degree of retention of that component by the stationary phase. By measuring a property of the effluent known to be affected by the hypothetical component, and observing whether a maximum occurs at the "retention time" for that component, presence of the component can be verified or negated. It is evident that in liquid chromatography there exists a necessity for accurately detecting and measuring, on a continuous basis, properties of the liquid emerging from the column, such as viscosity. It is known in liquid chromatography to measure many properties of the column effluent to derive information relating to the nature and quantity of the components in a sample. Among the properties measured are visible light and ultraviolet ray absorption, refractive index, heat of absorption and flame ionization of the sample.

Viscosimeters are generally known, for example, the Ostwald viscosimeter (Glasstone, Textbook of Physical Chemistry, 2nd Ed., 10th Printing (1954) D. vam Nostrand Co., page 498), comprising a capillary adapted to the flow of the liquid to be determined. Such a viscosimeter is adapted only to measurements on liquids having a constant viscosity and it cannot be used for measurements of liquids having a varying viscosity, e.g. due to a reaction in the liquid, such as an enzymatically decomposing starch or protein solution having a decreasing viscosity, a polymerizing solution having an increasing viscosity, or a DNA solution in which the viscosity varies due to influences of temperature, pH or ion concentration. The generally known method of the falling ball (Glasstone, loc. cit. page 498 and 499) is not suitable for this purpose either. It is an object of the invention to provide a low feed, fast response, very low time of delay viscosimeter which, in particular, is suitable for continuous measurements of liquids showing a viscosity varying with the time. Thus, the invention provides a viscosimeter comprising a flow system for the liquid to be tested, having a narrow zone, zones for determining the pressure of the liquid to be tested located before and after the said narrow zone, said zones for determining the pressure of the liquid to be tested being surrounded by tubes of a thin-walled material adapted to transfer the pressure of the liquid within the tubes to pressure transduction liquids outside each of the tubes, each of said pressure transduction liquids being in contact with one of two pressure chambers of a pressure difference recording means in such a manner that the pressures of the liquid to be tested at both sides of the narrow zone are transferred to said pressure chambers. The tubes of thin-walled material are within chambers containing the pressure transduction liquid, said chambers being connected to connecting tubes, each of them leading one of the two pressure chambers of the pressure difference recording means. The viscosimeter according to the invention enables in an easy manner to follow continuously the viscosity of a liquid flowing through the narrow zone, preferably a capillary, at constant speed. The relationship between the viscosity and the pressure gradient over a capillary may be derived from the Hagen-Poiseuille equation for a liquid flowing through a capillary: 8n ##EQU1## in which .eta. = viscosity of the liquid R = radius of the cross-section of the capillary PA1 V = volume of the liquid flowing through the capillary within a period t PA1 P.sub.1 - p.sub.2 = pressure difference of the liquids at both sides of the capillary PA1 L = length of the capillary From this equation, which is a good approximation when a laminary flow is maintained in the capillary, it may easily be concluded that, at constant flow speed, the viscosity is proportional to the pressure difference, and that variations in viscosity thus are indicated by the variations of the pressure difference which may be transferred, for example, into an electrical signal by means of a device acting according to the inductive, capacitive or piezoelectrical principle, which signal may be made visible by a recorder. An advantage of the application of an additional liquid located between the spaces with the zones surrounded by the thin-walled, pressure-transferring material and the pressure difference meter, is that the liquid to be determined cannot remain in dead spaces and influence the measurement wrongly in this manner. When, for example, quick changes occur in the viscosity of the liquid to be determined, the liquid present in the connecting tubes and diffusing into the liquid to be tested, would give rise to false measurements, and this may be avoided by the device of the invention. Since the viscosity is generally highly dependent on the temperature, the capillary of the viscosimeter according to the invention is preferably provided with a jacket through which thermostatted liquid may be passed. It is also possible to place the whole viscosimeter in a thermostatted zone. Further, the liquid to be tested is preferably heated to the desired temperature by means of a thermostat before it is carried through the viscosimeter according to the invention. The above-mentioned thin-walled, pressure-transferring material is preferably a flexible thin-walled rubber which is very useful for viscosity measurements in aqueous media. Another suitable material is, for example, polyvinylalcohol, enabling measurements is several organic solvents. According to a preferred embodiment, the ends of the capillary are funnel-shaped and the zones surrounded by the tubes of thin-walled material are located in line with the capillary. Thus, the capillary may easily be cleaned by, e.g. mechanical means, without the necessity of demounting the apparatus. It is appreciated that the viscosimeter according to the invention may also be used for measurements of the absolute viscosity; in that case, the viscosimeter has to be calibrated by means of two or more liquids having a known viscosity.

The measurement of material thickness by the use of ultrasonics is a common inspection technique. Generally, there are two types of ultrasonic thickness measurement techniques comprising the resonance method and the pulse-echo technique. Resonance tests are limited in application, particularly in the tubing industry, because of the low measurement sampling rates that are used by instruments employing this technique. Use of the pulse-echo thickness measurement technique, is more prevalent today than the resonance method primarily because of its higher measurement sampling rate. An air gage technique is commonly employed for measuring inside and outside tube diameters. Although the accuracy of this technique is high, it is quite slow and requires an internal probe, which may scratch the tube. It is not possible to measure wall thickness by the air gaging technique. One technique which is used to perform the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness measurements simultaneously relies on the use of capacitance probes. This particular technique also requires contacting an inside probe to measure the internal diameter of the tubing. Generally, such a probe would have a tendency to scratch the tube surface and also restricts the speed at which the tube can be rotated while passing the transducers. Measurement of the wall thickness requires maintaining a very precise relative alignment between the inside and outside capacitance probes while the tube is conveyed past the probe. This is exceedingly difficult, particularly if the tube is rotated at a relatively high rpm. Other disclosures of prior art ultrasonic techniques primarily used for measuring thickness of a workpiece are typified by the disclosure in the Berg et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,014. Other patents considered in connection with this invention include: Zemanek et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,585; Mitchell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,664; Weinbaum, U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,478.

An acoustic emission is a generally nonaudible noise caused by minute changes in a material or object due to stresses imposed thereon. Thus, when a material undergoes a permanent plastic deformation, it will generate a sound which may be monitored by ultrasensitive means. This phenomenon can be used, for example, to monitor nuclear reactor vessels for material and structural failures such as fuel rod cracks. Since the bulk of acoustic emissions are inaudible, it is necessary to detect them by means of transducers which are placed at various locations on the surface of the object or vessel to be tested. The more sensors which can be present, then the greater the likelihood of detecting and locating a material failure. Therefore, the range of response and the cost of each individual transducer becomes of prime importance. Presently available transducers of sufficient sensitivity, typically piezoelectric crystals, usually only provide a narrow band of frequency response to acoustic emissions and are relatively quite expensive. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a transducer device for detecting acoustic emissions from objects. Another object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive broadband detector of acoustic emissions. Another object of this invention is to provide a method for detecting acoustic emissions from objects.

This invention relates to a maximum mileage indicator for providing information about the maximum mileage driving condition for the desired vehicle speed. When a vehicle is intended to be driven under the maximum mileage condition, the reading of a vacuum gauge mounted on an instrument panel has been utilized since it has been believed that as the vacuum gauge indicates higher vacuum, the mileage becomes higher value. The term "mileage" herein used is defined as the ratio of the distance traveled to the fuel consumed (killometer per liter). However, the above relationship between mileage and vacuum holds only for the same gear ratio, since the same vehicle speed may have different gear ratios from the first gear (low gear) to the fourth gear (top gear). At the same vehicle speed, the first gear offers the highest vacuum reading and the fourth gear offers the lowest vacuum reading, so that it is most preferable for the maximum mileage driving to take the lowest gear ratio and to drive a vehicle at a speed as low as possible. This does not meet the primary requirement for a vehicle design that it is to be driven at the desired vehicle speed with the proper gear ratio selected as occasion demands. Therefore, the reading to the vacuum gauge has been able to be used only for a mere reference.

This invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the quantity of a liquid or gas flow, especially a low-boiling liquid gas, through liquid outlet means of a storage tank provided with liquid inlet and outlet means. A method for measuring the quantity of flow of a liquid is known wherein a baffle is disposed in the current flow, whereby there is a pressure drop in the flow of the liquid past the baffle and this pressure drop can be measured by conventional means. The pressure drop, along with the known throughflow rate of the baffle, can be utilized with the aid of Bernoulli's theorem and the continuity relation for calculating the fluid quantity. A disadvantage of this method is the inaccurate measurement of smaller quantities of fluid flows. Furthermore, in measuring the quantity of fluid flow of a low-boiling liquid gas which is near its boiling point, increased evaporation losses occur due to the pressure drop in the baffle, having a disadvantageous effect on the result of the measurement.

This invention relates to electromechanical transducers and, more particularly, to a transducer configuration employing a number of separate transducers for monitoring a plurality of different pressure sensitive areas. Pressure transducers employing semiconductor devices as piezoresistors are in wide-spread use and serve to measure force or pressure in a number of different environments. One particular application is the use of such devices for measuring pressures or forces exerted on a model placed in a wind tunnel to define flow phenomenon. As such, the ultra-minature transducers or those employing piezoresistive bridge configurations, mounted on silicon diaphragms of between 0.25 to 0.03 inches or less, have received widespread use in wind tunnel applications for measuring pressure fluctuations in the local outside area of inlet/engine subsystems. There are many considerations employed in the design and fabrication of transducers for such environments and a good review of such requirements may be had by referring to a publication entitled NOTES ON APPLICATIONS OF INTEGRATED SENSOR (IS) PRESSURE TRANSDUCER, Published by Kulite Semiconductor Products, Inc. as Application Note KPS-AN11. This publication contains a series of articles depicting and defining transducer requirements for wind tunnel tests and the like. In any event, a wind tunnel or similar test on an engine, or an airplane part requires the measuring and monitoring of pressure at a relatively large number of points about and along the test object. The prior art utilized many approaches to accomplish this. Separate transducers for each point could be employed, but present a problem in regard to calibration of each device, offset differences between each transducer due to manufacturing techniques and so on. Another widely used approach was employing one or more high quality transducer assemblies and using the single assembly to monitor a plurality of points by mechanically switching a plurality of pressure tubes coupled between the transducer and each point to be monitored. This system employed mechanical scanners, valves to close or open the pressure ports and so on. The mechanical switching assemblies and the valves experience high failure rate and are difficult and expensive to maintain. Furthermore, the rate of mechanical scanning is substantially limited due to mechanical operation as well as the necessity of allowing the transducer to equalize each time a new pressure point is accessed. For example, if one high quality transducer is switched between varying pressure points, it is possible that the point may be at a pressure of 100 psi and the next succeeding point may be at a pressure of 10 psi or ten times less. The transducer employs a moving diaphragm, has hysteresis and the system has inertia. Hence, if the scanning rate is fast, the output will be incorrect since the reading of the transducer will be determined by the previous pressure. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a multiple pressure transducer configuration having the capability of monitoring a plurality of pressure points by a plurality of individual transducers, fabricated by similar techniques and mounted in a common housing, thus subjecting all the transducers to a similar environment.

This invention relates to sampling of fluid within a closed system, and more particularly, to a fitting of the type which allows sampling of said fluid, meanwhile maintaining the system in its closed condition. The testing or trouble shooting of a mechanical apparatus such as power plant or engine often involves sampling the temperature and/or pressure of fluids within a closed system of the apparatus. These fluids may take the form of cooling, lubricating, or fuel agents, and variations in their temperature and/or pressure can indicate if the apparatus is functioning properly. In order to sample a closed system fluid, it is the general practice to attach a fitting or valve of some type to a portion of the system carrying the fluid. Since the fluid will, of necessity, be exposed to the atmosphere for some limited period of time during connection of the fitting, the system or apparatus must be shut down to prevent loss of fluid and/or to prevent a safety hazard to personnel working on the system. Shutdown of the system or apparatus is time-consuming and often requires an additional running time to ring the fluid back to operating temperature or pressure after shutdown. Additionally, connection of a fitting to the system generally results in some loss of fluid which must be replaced after the connection is completed.

The desire for the conversion of rotary motions to cyclic linear motions or the reverse has realized its value in various arts. The object of several of these arts has been to pump or deliver fluid with a mechanical rotary input and conversely, to rotate a shaft with a cyclic linear input force. In many of these devices, the pressure flow and torque-speed concept is of primary importance and the ability to provide a smooth power transmission during the conversion process has also been a problem. With applicant's device the basic objects are to provide a mechanism that may be operated at relatively rather low speed and a unit wherein the timing situation is automatically compensated for by the motor output-speed demands if necessary. The basic object of applicant's invention is to provide a device which will convert rotary motion to a cyclic linear motion but wherein the cyclical situation will not provide a horsepower ripple that would result in any deterring factors. It is a further object of applicant's invention to provide a unit which is capable of converting a linear input whether the input be mechanical or by other means, to a rotary output. It is a further object of applicant's invention to provide a motion converting device which is capable of utilization as a pump or motor but which more important thatn that consideration is the conversion of a linear motion to a rotary motion. It is still a further object of applicant's invention to provide a motion converting device capable of converting linear to rotary or rotary to linear motion with a minimal energy transformation ripple.

The endless power transmission belt industry is a highly competitive one and there is a continuing effort to provide endless belts suitable for their associated applications yet at minimum cost. Many of such belts are expensive because numerous comparatively expensive materials are employed to arrive at the desired belt performance. Others of such belts are expensive because the materials employed are not compatible with each other and there is considerable processing required to arrive at an acceptable belt structure. This invention provides a simple and economical endless power transmission belt structure and method of making same wherein a plurality of thermoplastic elastomeric layers are employed which are compatible with each other and built up to define a belt structure and such layers having properties which are different from properties of adjoining layers with each layer being particularly suited for the location and arrangement thereof in the belt structure. Other details, uses, and advantages of this invention will be readily apparent from the embodiments thereof presented in the accompanying specification, claims, and drawing.

The invention relates to power transmission belts, but more particularly, the invention relates to an endless tensile member for power transmission belts. Textile cords have been used as a tensile member in power transmission belts. Cord bundles for early belts were spun or twisted from staple fibers such as cotton. The tensile strength of such cord bundles is greatly influenced by the frictional forces achieved by twisting the staple fibers together. In many cases, the cord bundles with a greater tensile strength also had longer staple fiber lengths. The prickly ends of the fibers extending from the cord bundles formed a mechanical bond with the polymeric material of the belt which improved the tension carrying capacity of the cord by increasing the force at which the fibers would slip relative to each other. The load carrying capacity of power transmission belts was greatly improved with the advent of cord bundles made from synthetic yarns of continuous multi-filaments. It was and currently is theorized that improved belt performance results from the substitution of staple fibers with filaments that extend continuously throughout the length of the belt to substantially eliminate slippage between filaments forming the cord bundle. While the multi-filament synthetics greatly improved the load carrying performance of a power transmission belt, the early synthetics introduced some problems. Synthetic materials such as rayon were produced in multi-filament fashion and then purposely chopped, combed, oriented and twisted into a synthetic staple cord bundle. The fibers of this synthetic staple were purposely made longer to reduce slip between the twisted fibers. Although the twisted staple cord bundle did not have the tensile strength of its corresponding multi-filament counterpart, belts produced with such cord bundles were smoother running because of a reduced cord modulus. For example, ten belts with a staple rayon cord bundle tensile member and ten belts with a multi-filament rayon cord bundle tensile member were built and tested. Except for the tensile members, the belts had substantially the same constructions. In accelerated tests, the belts with the multi-filament rayon tensile member had average lives of 195 hours whereas the belts with the staple rayon tensile member had average lives of 48 hours. Newer synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester have a more satisfactory modulus which eliminates the need for producing staple cords for belts where shock loading is a problem. The new synthetic fibers lead the way for producing belts of even higher load carrying capacity than was formerly achieved. Most power transmission belts presently produced use cord bundles of the continuous multi-filament type. U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,870 to Schnackenberg discloses a cord bundle, a combination of continuous multi-filament and pseudo staple fibers for use with power transmission belts. The cord is produced by disassociating a plurality of end portions from a multi-filament cord bundle. Improved belt performance is believed to result from improved mechanical bonding of the tensile member with the polymeric material of the power transmission belt. Nevertheless, it is generally believed that a multi-filament cord bundle with a predominate number of continuous filaments is better as a tensile member than a cord bundle of twisted staple fibers. The present art also uses adhesives and chemical agents to further enhance bonding between the polymeric material of a belt and the tensile member of spirally wound cord. Thus, the present belt art takes advantage of continuous multi-filament cord bundles and chemical agents or adhesives to effect power transmission belts of high performance. Perhaps one reason why belts with staple fiber cord bundles do not have the equivalent load carrying capacity as belts having a multi-filament cord bundle, is that the individual staple fibers are stressed past their yield point when power is transmitted. For example, assume that two such staple fibers are twisted together. If the fibers are tensioned, each end of the fiber will be unstressed while the center portions of the fiber are stressed. The tensile load stresses must be less than that force which is required to separate adjacently twisted fibers. Next assume that two staple fibers in pseudo being parallel and twisted together at their end portions where the center portion of one fiber is taut while the center portion of the fiber is slackened. When a tensile load is applied to the fibers, the taut fiber will be overstressed while the slackened fiber will have zero stresses. If this tension load is that which is required to transmit power with a V-belt, the taut fiber may become over-stressed and break. A cord bundle of twisted, staple fibers will have a multitude of fibers in such an arrangement. When staple fibers are adhered together such as with polymeric material of a power transmission belt, they do not easily slip relative to one another to give each fiber its proportional share of a tensile load. The originally taut fibers may be relatively over-stressed so that slack will be taken from the slackened staple fibers so they can share in transmitting a load. Thus, some fibers will be highly stressed whereas other staple fibers of the cord bundle will be lowly stressed. Belt life may be increased in some drives by lowering the modulus of the tensile member. Generally, the type of drive where increased belt life may be accomplished is those drives where small diameter sheaves are used. An example of such a drive is a front end automotive drive. Belt life may be increased by lowering the modulus provided that the reduction in stresses achieved by lowering the modulus is greater than the strength loss resulting from the change to a lower modulus material. A reduction in modulus may be achieved in generally two ways. First, a lower modulus material may be used for the multi-filament cord bundle. Any gain in belt life because of a lower modulus may be predicted. Secondly, a staple cord bundle may be made from a synthetic fiber of substantially the same modulus. When this is done the modulus of the cord bundles is reduced. Heretofore, the loss in modulus from use of staple fibers has always been greater than the reduction in stress concentrations that may have been gained. It is believed that this is because of the parallel filament loading concept discussed above. Thus, prior art power transmission belts with staple fibers have not had as good of belt life as power transmission belts built with multi-filaments of the same material.

This invention generally relates to safety devices for vehicle drivers, and more particularly to a steering wheel having means for protecting a driver from shocks or impacts which would otherwise be imposed on the head of the driver during an accident such as vehicle collision. Where a steering wheel of a shock absorbing construction is used in combination with a three-point restraining seat belt system for the purpose of protecting a vehicle driver against impacts or shocks as would occur as a result of a vehicle collision or other dangerous accidents, the body of the driver is retrained in the seated position by the seat belt system at the time of, for example, collision, while the head of the driver is turned around at the neck portion and thrown violently against the hub or spokes of the steering wheel. The turned head of the driver undergoes a sudden deceleration when hit upon the steering wheel and receives a serious damage as a consequence. More particularly, the prior art steering wheels with a shock absorbing construction invariably contemplate to protect drivers against possible damages by means of a resilient material which is provided on the steering wheel to give cushioning effects and to act as a shock absorber at the time of vehicle collision. However, it has been found that sufficient shock absorption cannot be expected with the cushioning action of the resilient material alone and the driver's head still undergoes a sudden deceleration as a result of crashing on the hub or spoke of the steering wheel.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a power transmission apparatus comprising two control systems for transmitting power to the power shaft connected to a load shaft, one of the two systems being an automatic control system for transmitting power from a motor and the other being a manual control system for manually transmitting power, wherein the power transmission through the manual control system precedes that through the automatic control system and the power transmission through said manual control system can be automatically switched, when it is stopped, to that through the automatic control system. 2. Description of the Prior Art Most of the conventional apparatus of this type are provided with automatic-manual switching mechanisms for determining whether to transmit the power to the power shaft either through the automatic control system or through manual control system. However, the apparatus provided with such automatic-manual switching mechanisms are likely to result in mis-switching action by an unexpected external force applied thereto. In order to prevent the accidents that may be caused by such mis-switching operations, a power transmission apparatus has been proposed which transmits the power to the power shaft through either of the automatic or manual control without utilizing the automatic-manual switching mechanisms (for instance, Japanese Pat. No. 605,743). Such apparatus, however, have extremely complicated structures, require high accuracy in the fabrication and are, consequently, expensive.

The thread rolling process has been widely accepted as a means of forming external threads accurately, quickly and inexpensively. Production rates have reached six hundred parts per minute. The product so manufactured has superior physical qualities to that produced by machining. Significant material savings are realized since a blank is utilized having an outside diameter which is less than the outside diameter of the threaded fastener to be formed. This invention relates primarily to flat dies for such thread rolling processes and particularly to dies for rolling those threaded fasteners which have both a straight section and a point section. Other applications may include planetary dies for the rolling of such dies. Such dies have been relatively expensive to manufacture because of the necessity of making multiple passes either with a grinding wheel or a milling cutter to individually produce each groove. The individual machining or grinding has been necessary because the face surface of the die which contacted the workpiece comprises two generally planar surfaces; the first generally planar surface disposed on the face of the die in substantially parallel relationship to the axis of the straight section of the workpiece and the second generally planar surface also disposed on the face of the die which contacts the workpiece. As viewed from one end of the die, the angular relationship between the two generally planar surfaces is equal to the angle between the straight section and point section of the finished screw. The intersection of the first and second generally planar surfaces defined a line parallel to the direction of relative movement between the pair of dies utilized to form a single screw. Because the ridges disposed on the first and second generally planar surfaces of the face are obliquely disposed with respect to the intersection of the first and second generally planar surfaces, each ridge in the first generally planar surface was disposed in the same plane as the intersection of the first and second generally planar surfaces, which is sometimes referred to as the heel line, and each ridge is disposed at an angle to the direction of movement substantially equal to the helix angle of the thread to be rolled. Each ridge on the second generally planar surface is an extension of a ridge on the first generally planar surface. It is not feasible to use a multipoint cutter or grinding wheel to simultaneously generate all of the ridges in this configuration because the multipoint tool, as it progresses obliquely with respect to the heel line, will generate grooves of unequal depth if any attempt is made to obliquely pass over the "heel line." The single point tools which have been typically utilized are controlled by means of cams or other mechanical apparatus to follow a predetermined rise and fall path which imparts a contoured thread forming surface into the die working face. The number of milling cuts or grinding cuts that must be made in single point generation of the die working face is determined by the length and pitch of the thread which is to be rolled by the die being made. It is apparent that the mechanism for imparting the described rise and fall path, as well as the time involved in repetitively cutting each individual groove while describing the referred to rise and fall path, results in a relatively expensive manufacturing process.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for screwing and unscrewing the bottoms of watch casings, comprising a stand bearing a rotatable spindle provided with a tool for tightening and untightening watch-case bottoms. The apparatus of the above mentioned type are known per se. They are generally provided with means, in most of the cases screw means, permitting rapid adjustment in the height of the spindle. However, when the apparatus is in use, the spindle rotates freely in the stand, without effecting any axial movement. The result is that, during the screwing of a bottom of a watch casing, it is necessary, after a certain number of revolutions, to adjust the axial position of the spindle, by means of the rapid adjusting means, otherwise the bottom disengages itself from the tool so that it slips within the tool. Such improper tool engagement results, on the one hand, in failure of the watch-case bottom to be correctly tightened and, on the other hand, gives rise to the danger of damaging the outer surface of the bottom. During the unscrewing of the bottom, it is also necessary to adjust the axial position of the spindle, after a certain number of revolutions, otherwise the bottom moves axially up against the tool and binds against it. The purpose of the present invention is to remove these drawbacks.

1. Field of the Invention: The theft resistant combination lug nut apparatus of the present invention relates to a nut for locking a tire rim to a wheel and which requires a special key device for removal thereof. 2. Description of the Prior Art: As disclosed in my parent application, with the polularity of relatively expensive custom-made tire rims, many efforts have been made to provide a convenient means for locking such rims to the wheel but which provide for convenient and rapid removal thereof in the advent of a flat tire on such rim, thus necessitating replacement thereof by a spare tire. Since flat tires are frequently experienced in darkness and in inclement conditions, it is important that any key device to be used on a combination lug nut be easily fitted thereon with a minimum of inconvenience and tend to remain engaged with the nut during tightening thereof to avoid disengagement and consequent cracking of the operator's knuckles. Many efforts have been made to solve this problem and one such effort led to the proposal of a cylindrical nut having axially extending and radially outwardly opening grooves along one side thereof and registerable with a key device having complementarily positioned axially extending ribs formed on the interior thereof. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,447,564 and a somewhat similar groove and rib construction was shown in my parent application. However, I have learned that devices of this type suffer the shortcoming that there must be a close fit between the nut and key device, thus requiring critical axial and rotative alignment between the nut and key device in order to start the key device onto the nut and to prevent galling between the ribs and grooves during telescoping of such key device onto the nut. While a shroud may be installed over a lug nut of this type to assist in axially aligning the key device with the nut, such an arrangement would be practically unfeasible because of the inconvenience of installing such shroud and the likelihood of such shroud being deformed during use, thus preventing insertion of the key device. Obviously, acorn nuts having bell-shaped bonnets thereon are not formed with bearing rings having facets arranged in a selected pattern thereon so would present little difficulty in removal by a would-be thief.

Electronic music systems of the keyboard-type heretofore constructed have been primarily of the analog type in that most of the signals to be processed are analog signals. As a result it has been difficult to provide for the programming of certain operations such as the operation of the envelope generators. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electronic musical system that is under digital control by means of a voice code that controls many variables and interconnections associated with the system. Regarding the envelope generators, for example, in the present invention memory means, preferably in the form of read only memories, are associated with the generators for controlling such variables as envelope wave-form attack and decay. The attack time constant, for example, is varied in dependence upon the selected voice code which in turn usually corresponds to the desired instrument voice. Another object of this invention is to provide digital keyboard circuitry that is compatible with the digital voice code control of the system and that is characterized by a sequential interrogation scheme for determining which key is being played which is in turn represented by a predetermined key and octave code. A further object of this invention is to provide improved keyboard circuitry for generating a key and octave code and which is readily adaptable for use in a polyphonic musical system. Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved audio waveform generator comprising a digital controlled oscillator having components thereof that are required to operate only over a one octave range thereby providing improved operation consistent with the ability to apply variable portamento or glissento across several octaves (three octaves in illustrated case).

In organs generally, it is conventional to actuate a number of tones upon depressing a given key. In many types of electrical organs, electrical tone generators may be keyed by means of an electrical switch connected between the tone generator and a source of direct current potential, the switch being actuated in response to depressing of one of the keys of the keyboard of the musical instrument. U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,603 of Nov. 2, 1971, entitled "CHIFF CIRCUITS FOR ELECTRONIC ORGANS" of Wayne and Meyer, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,587 of May 2, 1972, entitled "ELECTRONIC ORGAN KEYING CIRCUITS" of Martin disclose an electrical organ in which a single pole single throw key switch activates two photoelectric tone sources, corresponding, for example, to a main tone component and a chiff tone component of the organ tone through two parallel envelope circuits. As more fully described hereinafter, FIG. 1 illustrates such a system. U.S. Pat. No. 3,390,223 to Wayne discloses an electrical organ in which certain pipe organ simulated tones decay at a pitch which is flat with respect to the steady-state pitch. In the organ of the Wayne patent, however, this is accomplished by driving, at the steady-state pitch, a resonant circuit which is tuned flat with respect to the steady-state pitch, so that when the key switch is opened and the driving signal terminates, the resonant circuit produces a decaying electrical signal at the resonant frequency of the circuit which is flat with respect to the steady-state pitch. U.S. Pat. No. 3,037,413 to Markowitz entitled "ELECTRIC ORGAN WITH TRANSIENT SPEECH EFFECTS" is also an example of an electrical organ in which a single key is utilized to excite a plurality of tone sources through separate keying circuits connected in parallel with the keying circuit of the principal tone.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a hydraulic controller for controlling the operation of a plurality of hydraulically operated devices in a predetermined sequence of individually adjustable timed intervals of operation for each such device. Machine operations, operated by such hydraulically operated devices, may be controlled in predetermined sequence with the timed interval of each given operation being controlled by corresponding control members of the controller which are individually adjustable for varying the length of intervals of operation for each of the machine operations. 2. Description of the Prior Art Various types of control devices have been developed heretofore for controlling the operation of pilot valves, switches and other similar devices. Examplary of such controllers are the prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,404,227; 3,428,085 and 3,444,896. In these prior controllers, means have been provided for controlling the operation of associated pilot valves or switches in response to the operation of electrical motors, pneumatic motors and hydraulic motors. However, none of these devices have been found to be acceptable, or suitable, for use in controlling the operation of hydraulically operated devices such as are present in many presently used complex machines used in various production operations. By way of example, various known machines are employed in performing injection molding vacuum forming, blow forming, rotational molding and similar production operations which require the operation of various hydraulically operated mechanisms in a predetermined sequence. Generally, the hydraulic ram and cylinder utilized for opening and closing molds, moving turrets, etc. are in turn operated by hydraulically operated pilot valves. Such pilot valves typically are in turn operated by various solenoids, relays and associated electrical circuitry. The typical system for operating a complicated vacuum forming machine, or the like, usually includes a very complex electrical and hydraulic system including a large number of such relays, solenoids, pilot valves, etc. in addition to the main operated hydraulic devices performing the machine operations. In view of the foregoing, it has been recognized that there is a real need for a hydraulically operated control device, suitable for being powered from the hydraulic fluid supply of the machine, for directly operating the various hydraulically operated devices of the machine which are performing the machine operations. Such a hydraulic controller would eliminate the necessity of complicated electrical circuitry, solenoids, relays and other associated electrical equipment as well as the inherent time delay attendant the necessary step-by-step operation of such components in a complicated electrical system. It has further been recognized that such hydraulic controller should be relatively easy to operate and should provide for the operation of the various machine operations in timed intervals, in a predetermined sequence and wherein the individual machine operations can be operated for selectable intervals of operating time.

There is disclosed in the patent application, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,471, issued May 25, 1971, in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 143,391, filed May 14, 1971, now abandoned and in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 433,978, filed Jan. 16, 1974, a collapsible cellular box partition and the method and apparatus for the continuous manufacture of such partition respectively. Copending U.S. application Ser. No. 293,941, filed Oct. 2, 1972, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,999, issued June 4, 1974, discloses and claims the apparatus for combining such collapsible cellular partitions with a box blank to form a collapsed shipping container which can be set up into a partition box while the present application discloses and claims the method carried out by the apparatus of the copending application Ser. No. 293,941 and the new uses of such apparatus for combining other forms of partitions with a box blank and making a double wall thickness box.

The present invention relates to a new and improved method of applying data to a workpiece, especially to a bevel gear, wherein determination of the data occurs at a testing machine, especially a contact reflection testing machine, and the data is further transmitted to a marking or designation device and by means of such marking or designation device is applied to the workpiece. Furthermore, the invention is concerned with a new and improved construction of apparatus for the performance of the aforesaid method. It is known for the application of data or other significant information to workpieces to imprint such workpieces with the data at the testing machine where such data has been ascertained, ink being used as the printing agent. A drawback of this technique is that the marking unit or device must be mounted at the testing machine, rendering more difficult actuation and supervising of the testing machine. A further drawback resides in the fact that the function of the marking unit is impaired. Additionally, when ink is used as the printing agent such does not furnish any really resistant labeling or marking, and a durable printing agent, such as for instance an etching agent a cannot be employed because of the danger of corrosion when the marking unit is mounted at the testing machine, e.g. the contact reflection testing machine. Finally, the testing machine is occupied for a much longer period of time by a workpiece, for instance the pair of bevel gears, when the marking operation occurs at the testing location.

The present invention relates to printing presses, e.g. a lithographic printing press having an ink fountain, and relates in particular to apparatus for displaying the performance of a printing press to an operator for purposes, for example, of adjusting the press. In the prior art, printing presses commonly have been made employing a plurality of ink rate adjustment devices, such as ink keys distributed laterally across the width of the press, to adjust the rate at which ink is supplied to various lateral portions of the rolls of the press, and therefore to the paper being printed. One such system displays simultaneously the settings of all of the ink control devices of a printing unit, with the settings displayed side by side in the same order as the ink control devices themselves are arranged across the width of the printing press, and with an interpolating dot at the end of each setting display when appropriate, but not in combination with a density deviation display as herein. Printing presses have been equipped in the past with optical densitometers that measure the reflection density of printed areas on the paper to monitor the ink density. A densitometer of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,725 issued Sept. 4, 1973, made a part hereof by reference, in which presettable reference levels are provided for automatic comparison with reflection density readings that are made by the densitometer. In still other equipment of the prior art, analog strip chart recorders have been connected with the printing presses to record traces of deviations of densitometer measurements from predetermined set points; these charts give the user a visual indication of a number of recent measurements of reflection density.

The present invention relates generally to site markers, distress signals, rescue beacons and the like, and more particularly, to a rocket-deployed, tethered signal balloon as a pin-point location marker. At present, no reliable system exists to deploy a long duration rescue signal, such as a balloon, under extreme conditions. The need for such a signaling device becomes evident when one considers the problems of locating a pilot downed, for example, in a hostile environment or dense jungle terrain. Existing systems include smoke bombs, parachute flares shot from a pistol, radio beacons, xenon flashers and the like, but these are not effective in all situations. Smoke bombs and parachute flares are not particularly of long duration and, therefore, must be employed when a rescue craft is in sight. Radio beacons and xenon flashers are longer lasting, but may be employed only in open areas to be effective. Present balloons are unsatisfactory since they are inflated at ground level and must be deployed manually to a height that can be seen by rescue craft, thus precluding their use in densely overgrown locations since the inflated balloon will probably be snagged or snarled by the vegetation before an effective deployment height can be achieved. Automatic balloon deployment systems have the additional disadvantages of not permitting the user the flexibility of when and where to deploy the marker, an important consideration if the user is under hostile surveillance at the distress location. The instant invention obviates the disadvantages of existing signaling systems by providing a long-duration, balloon marker packaged into a self-contained, compact, portable system which is deployed from a tube by a hand-fired rocket to a considerable height before inflation is automatically initiated and remains tethered to the tube. This permits marker deployment when and where desired by the user, and the rocket deployment of the packaged balloon ensures clearance of all obstacles before inflation.

This invention relates to systems for moving vehicles along predetermined paths. Amusement parks often have "dark rides" in which people are seated in boats that float along a channel that carries them past animated displays. The boats are typically moved along the channel by pumping water along the channel. The cross-sectional area of a boat is typically only a small fraction of the cross-sectional area of the water-filled portion of the channel, so that a large amount of water normally must be pumped through the channel. While this transport system provides a smooth and vibration-free ride, it has several disadvantages. The propulsion system is inefficient, and it is difficult to provide sharp turns along the waterway inasmuch as at such turns the water swirls so that it tends to tip the boat rather than propel it and the water also tends to ride up the outer side of an open channel.

This invention relates to roadways for high performance rapid transit railways for overhung and/or underhung suspension vehicles including a suspension or supporting structure with means for carrying and guiding of the vehicles. Conventional constructions of such roadways utilize reinforced concrete supporting or suspension structures, and the various rails and lines needed to sustain railway operations are attached to the suspension or supporting structures. In order to maintain the close tolerances needed to ensure the operability of overhung or underhung suspension vehicles, in the relative arrangement of the individual rails as well as in the absolute geometry of the track, these structures necessitate separately operable adjusting devices for the concrete main beams as well as for the rails attached thereto by means of supporting elements. Such structures thus require rather large expenditures and are hence expensive. Due to the particular load capacity of main beams of reinforced concrete construction, these beams, if reasonably sized, may not exceed approximately 30 m in span. This poses special problems when track sections require a span length in excess of 30 m, as may be the case for bridges and overcrossings. When the track section involves bends in the roadway or differences in elevation, conventional structures necessarily use traverse or polyonal courses in the section to approximate such bends in the suspension beams. A further disadvantage of prior art structures utilizing concrete suspension structures, is seen in that these cannot be manufactured by shop production, but must be manufactured at the site. This entails relatively high labor costs. Another disadvantage is seen in that these reinforced concrete structures are hard to disassemble for re-use, for example, when the system is to be relocated. This is important in the case of experimental tracks. A still further disadvantage of conventional structures is due to the fact that the necessary high resonance frequency can be achieved only at high extra costs for respective structural features.

This invention relates to an impact resistant panel composed of a group of at least three sheets of vitreous material bonded together via intervening layers of plastic material. The term "vitreous material" as here used comprehends glasses and vitrocrystalline materials, the latter being glasses which have been treated in such a way as to cause the formation of one or more crystalline phases therein. Such panels are resistant to the impact of stones, bullets and other similar projectiles. Such panels are therefore often used to form part of a bulletproof screen in banks and post offices, or to form windows, especially windshields, of aircraft and high speed locomotives. The panels are also resistant to breakage by vandals and may be used in display cases in museums, or to provide transparent barriers in prisons. Hitherto, such panels have needed to be very thick in order to provide adequate impact resistance. This has resulted in a very heavy and therefore expensive panel. Heavy panels suffer from the further disadvantage that they require heavy supporting structures or frames, and heavy panels are clearly unsuitable for use in aircraft.

Flat bottomed hulls are considered to have good planing characteristics due to the fact that there is a minimum amount of wetted surface and as a result there is a minimum drag as the speed is increased. However, flat bottomed hulls lack stability on turning and also have a tendency to produce a rough ride in choppy water. V-bottom hulls are generally formed with a relative deep V at the bow which flattens out toward the stern. The V-hull has the advantage of being able to cut into heavy seas, although as the V cuts down into the water the water is displaced upwardly along the V and has a tendency to slap against the bottom of the hull. Furthermore, the V-bottom hull lacks lateral stability particularly in the forward areas. More recently the tri-hull has become more popular in smaller boats. The tri-hull consists of a central V along with V's of lesser depth along the side edges of the hull. The tri-hull provides a substantial increase in lateral stability, particularly in the forward areas, but acts to increase the amount of wetted surface so that the planing characteristics of the tri-hull are adversely effected. Various other types of modified V-hulls or tri-hulls have been used in the past in an attempt to obtain better planing characteristics or to increase the stability of the hull.

1. Field of the Invention This invention concerns tank-ship construction in general, and more particularly relates to certain elements of the structure employed for supplying an inert gas to a plurality of tanks in a tank ship. Specifically, it concerns the combination of a valve located in a conduit for supplying the inert gas, along with a vent hatch located in the same conduit adjacent to the valve. 2. Description of the Prior Art In tank ships that are designed for carrying petroleum products, it has been found (particularly in the large-sized tankers now generally being constructed) that the danger of explosive atmospheres developing in empty or partially empty cargo tanks becomes extremely great. In order to overcome this situation, one of the most universally acceptable procedures is that of introducing an inert gas to the empty tank space involved. Such introduction of inert gas involves the use of a main conduit for supplying the inert gas, along with branch conduits to individual tanks. Heretofore, such systems have relied upon the use of so-called pressurevacuum valves for avoiding excess over- or under-pressure in the tanks. However, these pressures involved are quite low, and the use of such breather valves entails expensive mounting. Also, because such low pressure safety-valve instruments are relatively delicate, they are more subject to fouling, and consequently the safety factor might be lost. Consequently, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple yet effective combination that is particularly applicable to petroleum tank ship structures.

The invention is intended for cross-country vehicles which are to be capable of traversing waters of such depth that the undercarriage provided for use on land can no longer be used. Such a vehicle may also be a movable construction machine, a dredge or the like. In a narrow sense, the basic purpose of the invention is to provide such a vehicle with a drive for traveling on water. Nevertheless, the vehicle is so constructed that during a longer period of operation on land, wherein travel through deep waters does not take place, it is not hindered by a drive for the water travel. On the other hand, the water drive will provide the vehicle with a high maneuverability. The basic purpose of the invention is attained by providing at least one power-driven steerable propeller which at least in its operating position is pivotable about an approximately vertical pivot axis through approximately 180.degree. or more and is tiltable about an approximately horizontal tilting axis and which is driven by a motor in addition to the drive of the land vehicle. The pivotability provides the vehicle during travel in water with a high maneuverability and by means of the tiltability the steerable propeller can be adjusted during travel on land in such a manner that it is not damaged during cross-country travel, such as during travel over pathless grounds or over slopes. The invention has particular importance for tracked vehicles, or stated in other words, since tracked vehicles are particularly suitable for cross-country travel, a water drive according to the invention is particularly important for them. In consideration of the above-described purpose, the water drive forms a unit which is as self-contained as possible. Thus, the steerable propeller consists substantially of a first portion which is nonpivotable about the pivot axis and of a second portion which is pivotable about the pivot axis and carries the propeller and the motor is arranged on the nonpivotable portion. In particular, it is advantageous if the steerable propeller is releasably connected to the vehicle, this being particularly advantageous because the water drive can be removed entirely if it is to be expected that it will not be needed for a long period of time. Various embodiments can be used to carry out the invention. In one embodiment the tilting axis is arranged transversely to the direction of travel through which the steerable propeller can be tilted outwardly in an astern direction. In a different embodiment, the tilting axis is arranged parallel to the direction of travel, which can be particularly advantageous inasmuch as the upwardly tilted steerable propeller does not project astern and thus possibly interfere during turning or travel over slopes. It is also possible to continue the driving of the steerable propeller during the tilting process so that it can produce a forward movement during the tilting or in partially upwardly tilted condition. In other embodiments, the tilting axis is arranged three-dimensionally between the stated positions so that the steerable propeller can be tilted, for example, both laterally and rearwardly. The steerable propeller is particularly simple to mount if a pivot pin is provided in the tilting axis, which pin connects the land vehicle and the first portion of the steerable propeller and which can be dismounted or secured in installed condition as desired. Further, for good maneuverability a desirable construction provides a remotely operable motor for the pivoting movement of the second portion of the steerable propeller. In order to carry out the tilting movement quickly and safely, a preferred embodiment provides a mechanical, electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic drive mechanism for effecting the tilting movement. The electric drive can consist of an electric motor which cooperates with a suitable screw. The hydraulic or pneumatic drive consists advantageously of at least one cylinder-piston unit. A crank can be provided for the mechanical drive. A simple and strong drive for the tilting movement is obtained by hinging to the first portion suitable pulling means, for example a chain or cable, and by supporting a drum or the like on the land vehicle, on which drum the pulling means can be wound. It is advantageous particularly also during land drive if an involuntary backward driving is prevented by a releasable latch. Furthermore it is advantageous if in place of the crank there is provided a lever which acts through a one-way coupling, thus for example through a latch, onto the drum, which lever also acts as a catch for the drum. This type of manual operation is particularly simple and sturdy. A bracket or the like provides further safety of operation if said bracket connects the steerable propeller additionally to the vehicle in operating position. In order that the steerable propeller can be both secured and released quickly, the new device is advantageously provided with a latch lock on the mounting. Particularly advantageous in this connection is also a remotely operable motor for the latch lock, which can be driven, for example, hydraulically or pneumatically. In order to relieve the tilting movement drive from the load while in rest position, and to secure the steerable propeller in upwardly tilted condition, the new device is advantageously provided with a locking device which connects the steerable propeller, when same is tilted from the operating position, releasably to the vehicle. It is desirable for the best economy to fit the apparatus into the vehicle so that the energy supply for the blower or the blowers of the vehicle is switched over to the drive for the propeller. It is also possible to use this energy for driving the tilting procedure and for pivoting the steerable propeller for the purpose of the steering. Further advantages and characteristics of the invention can be taken from the following description. The description in general refers only to a single steerable propeller but the invention also includes the use of multiple steerable propellers.

The fastening of the rope portion of a water ski tow rope to the handle of the tow rope presents a particular problem because it is imperative that the rope does not detach from the handle during use or injury may result. Moreover, the fastening to the handle must be accomplished in such a manner so as not to interfere with the hands of the skier as he grips the handle. The area around the handle must be relatively smooth to avoid chafing the hands of the skier. It is also desirable to stiffen the rope directly adjacent to the handle to prevent it from accidentally winding about the fingers of the skier. For example U.S. Pat. No. 3,092,068 illustrates a hand grip for a ski tow rope in which a knot is tied on the end of the rope and the knot is held within the inner diameter of the tubular handle. This manner of tieing a rope to the handle is not entirely foolproof, particularly if the knot is carelessly tied and the rope becomes slippery when wet. Furthermore no protection is provided for the hands of the skier against chafing from the rope or from winding about the finger of the skier.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tank assembly and more particularly to a slurry tank into which patterns are dipped in the formation of shell molds. 2. Description of the Prior Art In the making of shell molds for investment castings, particularly by processes in which the shell consists of many layers formed by alternately dipping the pattern in a slurry and dusting with a granulate mixture, various characteristics and conditions of the slurry must be monitored to control the quality of the shell. For example, the slurry must be mixed continuously to prevent its heavier elements from settling. The typical dip tank in present foundry service is essentially an open drum mounted on a vertical shaft which is rotatable. A scraper paddle is positioned internal of the drum adjacent to the vertical wall and extends along the bottom of the drum. As the drum is rotated, the paddle provides continual mixing of the contained material and also avoids the buildup of an excessively thick layer along either the wall or bottom of the drum. As a practical matter, the consistency of a slurry maintained in such a device is not always as uniform as desired. Another consideration affecting control of the quality of molds made with such equipment is the buildup of slurry on the inside surfaces of the rotating drum. Slurry material adheres to the drum and forms a coating having a thickness equal to the clearance between the scraper bar and the drum. Any additional buildup is removed from the coating by the scraper paddle by the mixing action producing hardened particles which find their way into the final shell mold thereby weakening the mold and causing imperfections on the surface of the casting. Another significant consideration in the quality control of shell molds is the viscosity of the slurry. If the viscosity is allowed to deviate from a predetermined range of values, the thickness of the shell mold formed in each dip process can become either too thick or too thin. At present, the viscosity is measured with a manual technique using a Zaun cup in which an operator fills the cup with the slurry mixture to be tested and observes the time required for the Zaun cup to empty. This time is correlated to viscosity. The technique is subject to human judgment and can be inaccurate. Control of the temperature of the slurry throughout the dipping process is also important. The temperature of the slurry itself is usually not critical, however, the temperature to which the pattern is exposed can be very critical. If the temperature of a wax pattern is allowed to vary to any substantial extent, the dimensional control of the cast item can be compromised. Thus, by maintaining the temperature of the slurry within a prescribed range this source of dimensional error can be eliminated. Another significant variable in the slurry composition is density. In a slurry dip operation using rotating drum apparatus, the slurry density is typically controlled manually with the Zaun cup apparatus mentioned previously; both viscosity and density can be measured simultaneously. One of the principal shortcomings of this technique is the inaccuracy in the observed readings which require a human operator. In some processes such as the preparation of shell molds for fine investment castings, density control by Zaun cup measurement is not sufficiently accurate. Also since this control is done manually, the tendency is to take sample readings at rather lengthy intervals and adverse changes in the density characteristic can occur during such intervals, resulting in poor quality molds. The effect on a mold made from a slurry having an improper density can be considerable. For example, since the smaller mesh particulate in a slurry tends to be consumed before the large mesh material, the density of the slurry tends to increase with usage. This type of change can be adverse to the surface quality of the cast part. Also, an increase in the average mesh size of the particles forming the slurry has been found to decrease the strength of the mold.

The invention relates to an apparatus for applying a thin liquid film of large width to a continuously moving web of material, comprising a liquid supply chamber which is fed by a pump and a guide surface which is supplied from the liquid supply chamber and from the edge of which a liquid film runs onto the web of material. For applying a thin liquid film to a continuously moving web of material, it is known to convey a liquid film by means of a roll from a liquor trough and to remove said film from the roll by means of a doctor, the film then passing from said doctor to the web of material. However, this generally requires a thickening agent to obtain satisfactory film formation on the roll. This then requires subsequent washing of the web of material to remove the thickening agent. It is further known to immerse a roll in a liquid supply container which is fed from a pump with the liquor and comprises an overflow weir, said roll being disposed adjacent the overflow weir and serving primarily to break the waves caused by the liquor supply. In this construction a relatively large volume is required for the liquid supply container so that the conveying impulses originating from the pump have the least possible effect at the guide surface following the overflow weir. A large volume of the liquid supply container involves however considerable practical disadvantages, as should be readily obvious (for example, the losses when changing the colour).

Reusable and stackable containers for poultry shipping and the like are known to the prior art. Typical of such prior art poultry coops are those assembled from upper and lower sections and a door all molded from plastic, polyethylene, for example. With the exception of the door opening, the upper and lower sections are of generally identical construction with the top and bottom walls often being ribbed or corrugated for strength. The side or marginal walls are often constructed to provide ventilation with additional ventilation being provided by holes in the top and bottom walls. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,434 there is described a molded plastic shipping container for live foul consisting essentially of upper and lower sections and a door. Each of the upper and lower sections have a generally rectangular wall with a side or marginal wall extending from its periphery. The marginal wall is directed slightly outward and is provided with a rim at its end for the attachment of one section to another. The section intended as the upper section is provided with an opening which may be covered by a door hingedly attached to the wall of the upper section. The side or marginal walls of the upper and lower sections have spaced openings for ventilation and the main walls of the upper and lower sections are also provided with holes to enhance ventilation. Among the difficulties encountered with prior art poultry coops such as that illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,434 is the inflexibility of the floor (i.e., the main wall of the lower section). The poultry which are transported in poultry coops with such rigid floors frequently develop breast blisters. Also, the screw connection between the door hinge and the main wall of the upper section often results in the failure of that connection after repeated openings of the door. Further, the outward extention of the marginal or side walls reduces their weight carrying ability which restricts the stackability of the poultry coops.

This invention relates to an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to a vapor injection system for an internal combustion engine. Water vapor injection of internal combustion engines is old, as evidenced by the applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 1,373,603 issued Apr. 5, 1921. However, in the injection of water vapor into the carburetors of internal combustion engines, water droplets of excessive size too often pass into the carburetor, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the engine. The smaller the droplets, the more readily the water will flash into superheated steam when the water vapor is introduced into the engine cylinders.

Internal combustion engines of the so called jet-ignition or torch-ignition type generally provide a small ignition chamber adjacent the main combustion chamber for each cylinder and connected therewith by a small orifice. The main combustion chambers are supplied with air-fuel mixture chosen for economy, emissions reduction, etc. which may not be easily ignitable. The auxiliary chambers are supplied through separate induction means with a small volume of easily ignitable air-fuel mixture which is then ignited by a spark plug. Burning the mixture in the auxiliary chamber causes expansion through the orifice, resulting in a jet or flame extending into the main chamber which causes ignition and burning of the main charge. While torch ignition engines have been known in the art for many years, they have not achieved wide commercial usage. In previous designs, the complexities caused by dual induction systems, intake valves, valve actuating mechanisms, and exhaust or other mixture heating devices have resulted in relatively complex engine constructions, adding to the cost of manufacture as well as requiring careful attention to manufacturing details to obtain the desired operating characteristics.

The present invention relates in general to intake manifolds for internal combustion engines. More in particular, it relates to manifolds having means for preventing reverse flow of fuel and air mixture in the runners of the manifold and for increasing the amount of fuel and air mixture delivered to an engine. A carbureted internal combustion engine employs an intake manifold to distribute a fuel and an air mixture produced by a carburetor to the cylinders of the engine. An intake manifold typically has a plenum chamber below the carburetor to receive a mixture of fuel and air from the carburetor. From the plenum the mixture is directed to the cylinders through ducts called runners. The runners exit from the manifold at inlet ports to the engine. These ports lead to the cylinders through inlet valves. When each cylinder has an associated runner not shared with another cylinder, the manifold may be called an independent runner manifold. A fuel and air mixture is drawn into each cylinder of an engine by a vacuum created there by downward piston movement during the intake stroke of the cylinder. Inlet and exhaust valves into each cylinder provide for the admission of the fuel-air mixture into the cylinder and the exhaustion of products of combustion from the cylinder. In modern internal combustion engines, both the inlet and exhaust valves are open at the same time during a portion of a cycle. Some of this overlap occurs while the cylinder's piston is ascending. At this time the inlet valve is just opening and the exhaust valve is finally closing. A reason for the overlap is to give a fuel-air charge in a runner of a manifold the opportunity to see a large inlet valve opening when the piston begins to descend in the cylinder and produce a vacuum. However, during the overlap the pressure within a cylinder is greater than that in the manifold and this differential is compounded by the ascending piston. Consequently, exhaust products pass through the inlet valves from the cylinders they serve and into the runners of the manifold. These exhaust products tend to produce reverse fuel and air mixture flow towards the carburetor by "pushing" the mixture. An engine acts as a pump when it produces the vacuum that constitutes the driving force acting on a fuel-air charge to force the charge into the cylinders. This pumping requires power and the more power required to get a given mass of charge into the cylinders the lower the engine's efficiency. Power loss attends reverse mixture flow. To the extent that the flow of exhaust gases into a manifold requires the admission from the manifold of these exhaust gases back into the cylinder, work is required and efficiency is lost. The engine simply has to pump more to get both the fuel-air mixture and exhaust charge into its cylinders. U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,463 to James McFarland, Jr. describes an improved independent runner intake manifold which has a step or sudden enlargement proximate the exit of each runner into an associated inlet port of an engine. The step is located where mixture stream velocity is relatively low in comparison with mixture stream velocity elsewhere in the same velocity profile. Mixture stream velocity profile simply means the curve across a cross section of a runner defined by the total of the velocity magnitude vectors at the large cross section. The patent observes that this sudden enlargement acts as a dam or block in preventing reverse flow of exhause gases up a runner towards a carburetor. The patent states that the sudden enlargement or step can dissipate the energy of a pressure pulse traveling up a runner as well as directing it back towards the inlet port. Today internal combustion engine design is very sensitive to the amount of exhaust gas emissions of the pollutants of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and the oxides of nitrogen. In addition, modern engine design is becoming more sensitive to problems of fuel economy. In recent years, the problem of fuel economy has been aggravated because of emission control standards which have had a tendency to reduce economy.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ignition system which also controls the spark timing of a spark-ignition type internal combustion engine according to temperatures to thereby distribute a high-voltage surge to the spark plug at the correct instant. 2. Description of the Prior Art In the past, two types of ignition devices have been incorporated in the conventional ignition systems: these are a centrifugal spark advance mechanism for controlling the ignition timing of the engine according to the engine speed and a vacuum spark advance mechanism which advances or retards the timing of the spark according to the engine intake manifold vacuum. These mechanisms have primarily had their origin in the conception that the correct ignition timing of an engine could be satisfactorily determined according to two controlling factors, that is, the engine speed and the engine intake manifold vacuum. In actual operation of an engine, however, a driver frequently experiences such trouble that while there was no difficulty with the hot engine (with the engine temperature in terms of the cooling water temperature higher than about 40.degree.C), there was an inconvenience with the cold engine in that not only the engine ran unsatisfactorily, but also the engine lacked acceleration or other transient performance and this was particularly true in the winter months. Of course, it has been known in the art that the engine torque efficiency could vary with different engine temperatures. In order to look into the cause of such variations, the inventors have conducted various experiments and much research and discovered that even with the same load and the same number of revolutions the range of the spark timing which would ensure stable operation of the engine differed depending on whether the engine was cold or hot and that the lower the engine temperature the greater the spark advance would be required.